1001Philosophers

Stephen Toulmin Quotes on Knowledge

Stephen Edelston Toulmin was a British philosopher of science, ethics, and argumentation. This page collects quotes attributed to Stephen Toulmin on the topic of knowledge, drawn from across the philosopher's works.

Quotes

  • Attributed to Stephen Toulmin:

    “An argument is an organized presentation of grounds for a claim.”

  • Attributed to Stephen Toulmin:

    “Practical reasoning rarely fits the pattern of formal proof.”

  • Attributed to Stephen Toulmin:

    “Cosmopolis is the ambition to govern thought by universal abstract reason; it is also a temptation.”

  • Attributed to Stephen Toulmin:

    “Rationality is grounded in practical contexts, not in disembodied logic.”

  • Attributed to Stephen Toulmin:

    “Modernity must learn humility from its own oversights.”