William Whewell Quotes
William Whewell was an English polymath, scientist, and philosopher and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge for more than two decades. He coined the modern English term scientist, along with much of the working vocabulary of Victorian science. The quotes below are attributed to William Whewell, organized by topic.
Browse William Whewell by topic
William Whewell on Knowledge
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Attributed to William Whewell:
“Science is the systematic colligation of facts under a general idea.”
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Attributed to William Whewell:
“Discoveries are made by induction, but justified by deduction.”
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Attributed to William Whewell:
“We must always make the best use we can of our limited knowledge.”
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“A consilience of inductions takes place when an induction obtained from one class of facts coincides with an induction obtained from another different class.”
Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences -
“And so no force however great can stretch a cord however fine into an horizontal line which is accurately straight.”
Elementary Treatise on Mechanics, The Equilibrium of Forces on a Point (1819) -
“Elementary Treatise on Mechanics, The Equilibrium of Forces on a Point (1819)”
And so no force however great can stretch a cord however fine into an horizontal line which is accurately straight. -
“According to the technical language of old writers, a thing and its qualities are described as subject and attributes; and thus a man’s faculties and acts are attributes of which he is the subject. The mind is the subject in which ideas inhere. Moreover, the man’s faculties and acts are employed upon external objects; and from objects all his sensations arise. Hence the part of a man’s knowledge which belongs to his own mind, is subjective: that which flows in upon him from the world external to him, is objective.”
Part I Of Ideas, Book I Of Ideas in General, Chap. 4 Of the Difference and Opposition of Sensation and Ideas -
“Part I Of Ideas, Book I Of Ideas in General, Chap. 4 Of the Difference and Opposition of Sensation and Ideas”
According to the technical language of old writers, a thing and its qualities are described as subject and attributes; and thus a man’s faculties and acts are attributes of which he is the subject. The mind is the subject in which ideas inhere. Moreover, the man’s faculties and acts are employed upon external objects; and from objects all his sensations arise. Hence the part of a man’s knowledge w -
“Part I Of Ideas, Book I Of Ideas in General, Chap. 12 The Fundamental Ideas Are Not Derived From Experience”
We unfold out of the Idea of Space the propositions of geometry, which are plainly truths of the most rigorous necessity and universality. But if the idea of space were merely collected from observation of the external world, it could never enable or entitle us to assert such propositions: it could never authorize us to say that not merely some lines, but all lines, not only have, but must have, t
William Whewell on Mind
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“We cannot observe external things without some degree of Thought; nor can we reflect upon our Thoughts, without being influenced in the course of our reflection by the Things which we have observed.”
The Elements of Morality , Book 1, ch. 1. (1845)
William Whewell on Nature
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“We unfold out of the Idea of Space the propositions of geometry, which are plainly truths of the most rigorous necessity and universality. But if the idea of space were merely collected from observation of the external world, it could never enable or entitle us to assert such propositions: it could never authorize us to say that not merely some lines, but all lines, not only have, but must have, those properties which geometry teaches. Geometry in every proposition speaks a language which experience never dares to utter; and indeed of which she but half comprehends the meaning.”
Part I Of Ideas, Book I Of Ideas in General, Chap. 12 The Fundamental Ideas Are Not Derived From Experience
William Whewell on Time
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“Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy in England , Lecture 7. (1852)”
Every failure is a step to success. Every detection of what is false directs us towards what is true: every trial exhausts some tempting form of error. Not only so; but scarcely any attempt is entirely a failure; scarcely any theory, the result of steady thought, is altogether false; no tempting form of Error is without some latent charm derived from Truth.
William Whewell on Truth
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Attributed to William Whewell:
“The fundamental antithesis of philosophy is between ideas and things.”
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“Every failure is a step to success. Every detection of what is false directs us towards what is true: every trial exhausts some tempting form of error. Not only so; but scarcely any attempt is entirely a failure; scarcely any theory, the result of steady thought, is altogether false; no tempting form of Error is without some latent charm derived from Truth.”
Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy in England , Lecture 7. (1852)
William Whewell on Virtue
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“The Elements of Morality , Book 1, ch. 1. (1845)”
We cannot observe external things without some degree of Thought; nor can we reflect upon our Thoughts, without being influenced in the course of our reflection by the Things which we have observed.