“ A mere thinker can wait, can take time to consider, can collect additional evidence; he is not obliged to complete his philosophy at once, lest the opportunity should go by. The power of drawing the best conclusion possible from insufficient data is not indeed useless in philosophy ”
John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women (1869). copy citation
| Author | John Stuart Mill |
|---|---|
| Source | The Subjection of Women |
| Topic | philosophy power |
| Date | 1869 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | |
| Weblink | http://www.gutenberg.org/files/27083/27083-h/27083-h.htm |
Context
“Let us now consider another of the admitted superiorities of clever women, greater quickness of apprehension. Is not this pre-eminently a quality which fits a person for practice? In action, everything continually depends upon deciding promptly. In speculation, nothing does. A mere thinker can wait, can take time to consider, can collect additional evidence; he is not obliged to complete his philosophy at once, lest the opportunity should go by. The power of drawing the best conclusion possible from insufficient data is not indeed useless in philosophy; the construction of a provisional hypothesis consistent with all known facts is often the needful basis for further inquiry. But this faculty is rather serviceable in philosophy, than the main qualification for it:”
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