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William Whewell

84 quotes

• “And so no force however great can stretch a cord however fine into an horizontal line which is accurately straight.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) first seen 1819 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics (1819), "The Equilibrium of Forces on a Point

• “But with regard to the material world, we can at least go so far as this⁠—we can perceive that events are brought about not by insulated interpositions of Divine power, exerted in each particular case, but by the establishment of general laws.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) first seen 1839 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Astronomy and General Physics Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, 7th ed. (London: William Pickering, 1839), bk. 3, ch. 8, p. 356

• “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.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) first seen 1845 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: The Elements of Morality (1845), BK. 1, ch. 1

• “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 (1794–1866) first seen 1852 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

  Recorded in: Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy in England, Lecture 7. (1852)

• “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.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “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.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “By speaking of space as an Idea, I intend to imply the apprehension of objects as existing in space, and of the relations of position prevailing among them, is not a consequence of experience but a result of a peculiar constitution and activity of the mind which is independent of all experience in its origin, though constantly combined with experience in its exercise.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Our assent to the hypothesis implies that it is held to be true of all particular instances. That these cases belong to past or to future times, that they have or have not already occurred, makes no difference in the applicability of the rule to them. Because the rule prevails, it includes all cases.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The system becomes more coherent as it is further extended. The elements which we require for explaining a new class of facts are already contained in our system. Different members of the theory run together, and we have thus a constant convergence to unity. In false theories, the contrary is the case.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Man, servant and interpreter of Nature, does and understands only as much as he has observed of the order of Nature, either in reality or in mind; he neither knows nor can do more.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The antithesis of 'Sense' & 'Ideas' is the foundation of the Philosophy of Science. No knowledge can exist without the union, no philosophy without the separation, of these two elements.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Sensations are the 'Objective', the Ideas the 'Subjective' part of every act of perception or knowledge.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Truths once obtained by legitimate Induction are Facts: these Facts may be again connected, so as to produce higher truths: and thus we advance to 'Successive Generalizations'.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Truths obtained by Induction are made compact and permanent by being expressed in 'Technical Terms'.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “In Deductive Reasoning, we cannot have any truth in the conclusion which is not virtually contained in the premises.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “In order to acquire any exact and solid knowledge, the student must possess with perfect precision the ideas appropriate to that part of knowledge: and this precision is tested by the student's 'perceiving' the axiomatic evidence of the 'axioms' belonging to each 'Fundamental Idea'.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “'Form' or 'figure' is space limited by boundaries. Space has necessarily 'three' dimensions, length, breadth, depth; and no ethers which cannot be resolved into these.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Perception of Time involves a constant and latent kind of memory, which may be termed a 'Sense of Succession'. The Perception of Number also involves this Sense of Succession, although in small numbers we appear to apprehend the units simultaneously and not successively.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “'Intuitive' is opposed to 'discursive' reason. In intuition, we obtain our conclusions by dwelling upon 'one' aspect of the fundamental Idea; in discursive reasoning, we combine several aspects of the Idea”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Among the foundations of the Higher Mathematics is also the 'Idea of a Limit'. The Idea of a Limit cannot be superseded by any other definitions or Hypotheses.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Idea of Cause is expressed for purposes of science by these three Axioms:—'Every Event must have a Cause':—'Causes are measured by their Effects':—'Reaction is equal and opposite to Action'.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Mechanical Science depends on the Conception of Force; and is divided into 'Statics', the doctrine of Force preventing motion, and 'Dynamics', the doctrine of Force producing motion.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “'When two equal weights are supported on the middle point between them, the pressure on the fulcrum is equal to the sum of the weights.'”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Science of Hydrostatics depends upon the Fundamental Principle that 'fluids press equally in all directions'. This Principle necessarily results from the conception of a Fluid, as a body of which the parts are perfectly moveable in all directions. For since the Fluid is a body, it can transmit pressure; and the transmitted pressure is equal to the original pressure, in virtue of the Axiom that Reaction is equal to Action. That the Fundamental Principle is not derived from experience, is plain both from its evidence and from its history.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “We necessarily perceive bodies as 'without' us: the Idea of 'Externality' is one of the conditions of perception.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Secondary Qualities are not 'extended' but 'intensive'; their effects are not augmented by addition of parts, but by increased operation of the medium. Hence they are not measured directly, but by 'scales'; not by 'units', but by 'degrees'.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “We perceive by 'means' of a medium and 'by means' of impressions on the nerves: but we do not (by our senses,) perceive either the medium or the impressions on the nerves.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Sight cannot decompose a compound colour into simple colours, or distinguish a compound from a simple colour”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The solution is, that we do not see the image on the retina at all, we only see by means of it.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Coexistent polarities are fundamentally identical.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Attractions take place between bodies, affinities between the particles of a body. The former may be compared to the alliances of states, the latter to the ties of family.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The governing principles of chemical affinity are, that it is elective ; that it is definite ; that it determines the properties of the compound; and that analysis is possible.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “All hypotheses respecting the manner in which the elements of inorganic bodies are arranged in space, must be constructed with regard to the general facts of crystallization.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “We collect individuals into 'kinds' by applying to them the Idea of Likeness.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “A whale is not a fish in natural history, but it is a fish in commerce and law. A plea that human laws which mention fish do not apply to whales, would be rejected at once by an intelligent judge.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The " Five Words," 'genus', 'species', 'difference', 'property', 'accident', were used by the Aristotelians, in order to express the subordination of kinds, and to describe the nature of definitions and propositions. In modern times, these technical expressions have been more referred to by Natural Historians than by Metaphysicians.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Plan of the System, may aim at a Natural or an Artificial System. But no classes can be absolutely artificial, for if they were, no assertions could be made concerning them.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “An 'Artificial System' is one in which the 'smaller' groups (the Genera) are 'natural'; and in which the 'wider' divisions (Classes, Orders) are constructed by the 'peremptory' application of selected Characters”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “A 'Natural System' is one which attempts to make 'all' the divisions natural, the widest as well as the narrowest; and therefore applies 'no' characters 'peremptorily'.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Natural Groups are best described, not by any definition which marks their boundaries, but by a 'Type' which marks their centre. The Type of any natural group is an example which possesses in a marked degree all the leading characters of the class.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “A Natural Group is steadily fixed, though not precisely limited; it is given in position, though not circumscribed; it is determined, not by a boundary without, but by a central point within; —not by what it strictly excludes, but by what it eminently includes; — by a Type, not by a Definition.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The 'Diagnosis', or Scheme of the Characters, comes, in the order of philosophy, after the Classification. The characters do not 'make' the classes, they only enable us to 'recognize' them. The Diagnosis is an Artificial Key to a Natural System.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The basis of all Natural Systems of Classification is the Idea of Natural Affinity. The Principle which this Idea involves is this:—Natural arrangements, obtained from 'different' sets of characters, must 'coincide' with each other.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “It has been proved by the biological speculations of past time, that organic Life cannot rightly be resolved into mechanical or chemical forces, or the operation of a vital fluid, or of a soul.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “Life is a System of Vital Forces ; and the conception of such Forces involves a peculiar Fundamental Idea.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “In 'voluntary' motions, Sensations produce Actions, and the connexion is made by means of Ideas: in 'reflected' motions, the connexion neither seems to be nor is made by means of Ideas: in 'instinctive' motions, the connexion is such as requires Ideas, but we cannot believe the Ideas to exist.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The assumption of a Final Cause in the structure of each part of animals and plants is as inevitable as the assumption of an Efficient Cause for every event. The maxim that in organized bodies nothing is 'in vain', is as necessarily true as the maxim that nothing happens 'by chance'.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The idea of living beings as subject to 'disease' includes a recognition of a Final Cause in organization; for disease is a state in which the vital forces do not attain their 'proper ends'.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “The Palætiological Sciences depend upon the Idea of Cause; but the leading conception which they involve is that of 'historical cause', not mechanical cause.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

• “There are, in the Palætiological Sciences, two antagonist doctrines: 'Catastrophes' and 'Uniformity'. The doctrine of a 'uniform course of nature' is tenable only when we extend the notion of uniformity so far that it shall include catastrophes.”

  William Whewell (1794–1866) said by 1866 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source

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