Stephen Toulmin Quotes
Stephen Edelston Toulmin was a British philosopher of science, ethics, and argumentation. Trained at Cambridge under Wittgenstein, he held posts in Britain, Australia, and the United States, eventually settling at the University of Southern California. The quotes below are attributed to Stephen Toulmin, organized by topic.
Browse Stephen Toulmin by topic
Stephen Toulmin on Knowledge
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Attributed to Stephen Toulmin:
“Cosmopolis is the ambition to govern thought by universal abstract reason; it is also a temptation.”
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Attributed to Stephen Toulmin:
“Rationality is grounded in practical contexts, not in disembodied logic.”
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Attributed to Stephen Toulmin:
“Modernity must learn humility from its own oversights.”
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“Human Understanding: The Collective Use and Evolution of Concepts (Princeton UP, 1972) p. 275”
Different media of publication—textbooks, monographs, quarterlies, abstracts, and ‘review letters’—have been introduced, one after another, to meet new professional needs; and the historically changing operations of a scientific profession are reflected once more in the transfer of influence from one medium to another. The ‘ invisible colleges ’ of seventeenth-century Europe were initially linked
Stephen Toulmin on Mind
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Attributed to Stephen Toulmin:
“Practical reasoning rarely fits the pattern of formal proof.”
Stephen Toulmin on Nature
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“The Architecture of Matter (New York: Harper & Row, 1962) ch. 5 — written with June Goodfield”
At the heart of the Stoic doctrine lay a conviction which was...highly favorable to the development of a systematic natural science. For, first and foremost, the Stoics believed in ' determinism '; there was nothing willful about Nature, and everything happened according to law. The secret of human life was to fathom the general character of this universal order and to live in harmony with it. Thi
Stephen Toulmin on Time
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“The Abuse of Casuistry: A History of Moral Reasoning (U of California P, 1988) p. 241 — written with Albert R. Jonsen”
In Pascal 's view, casuistry was the denial of true morality. It held out no vision of the ideals to which humans should aspire. It commanded no sacrifice, insisted on no heroic dedication. Not only did it trivialize the lofty precepts of the Gospel, it did not even hint at the "natural life of virtue" that had been espoused by Aristotle and Cicero . It was a mere farrago of excuses, loopholes, an
Stephen Toulmin on Truth
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Attributed to Stephen Toulmin:
“An argument is an organized presentation of grounds for a claim.”
Stephen Toulmin on Virtue
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“In Pascal 's view, casuistry was the denial of true morality. It held out no vision of the ideals to which humans should aspire. It commanded no sacrifice, insisted on no heroic dedication. Not only did it trivialize the lofty precepts of the Gospel, it did not even hint at the "natural life of virtue" that had been espoused by Aristotle and Cicero . It was a mere farrago of excuses, loopholes, and evasions.”
The Abuse of Casuistry: A History of Moral Reasoning (U of California P, 1988) p. 241 — written with Albert R. Jonsen