Michael Polanyi
Michael Polanyi
Michael Polanyi, FRSwas a Hungarian-British polymath, who made important theoretical contributions to physical chemistry, economics, and philosophy. He argued that positivism supplies a false account of knowing, which if taken seriously undermines our highest achievements as human beings...
NationalityHungarian
ProfessionScientist
Date of Birth11 March 1891
enlightenment belief process
The process of philosophic and scientific enlightenment has shaken the stability of beliefs held explicitly as articles of faith.
knows tacit
We know more than we can tell.
men trying reform
To try to reform all the power structures at once would leave us with no power structure to use in our project. In any case, we will be able to see that absolute moral renewal could be attempted only by an absolute power and that a tyrannous force such as this must destroy the whole moral life of man, not renew it.
men body doe
Admittedly, the body of scientists, as a whole, does uphold the authority of science over the lay public. It controls thereby also the process by which young men are trained to become members of the scientific profession.
art may belief
These maxims and the art of interpreting them may be said to constitute the premisses of science but I prefer to call them our scientific beliefs. These premisses or beliefs are embodied in a tradition, the tradition of science.