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
common conveying effort experience learner rely teaching tells
Common experience also tells us that in teaching we rely on an intellectual effort of the learner for recognizing that which we are conveying to him.
boundary choice conditions controls intelligence powers sets setting
Responsible choice in a convivial setting controls the indeterminate powers of intelligence and sets the boundary conditions for their applications.
elicit general imposing inquiry intrinsic large opinion scientific society strong united value
Moreover, only a strong and united scientific opinion imposing the intrinsic value of scientific progress on society at large can elicit the support of scientific inquiry by the general public.
based cannot communication conscious evoking extent feelings knowledge mental noticeable shall
I shall suggest, on the contrary, that all communication relies,to a noticeable extent on evoking knowledge that we cannot tell, and that all our knowledge of mental processes, like feelings or conscious intellectual activities, is based on a knowledge which we cannot tell.
knows tacit
We know more than we can tell.
enlightenment belief process
The process of philosophic and scientific enlightenment has shaken the stability of beliefs held explicitly as articles of faith.
knowledge learning management
While tacit knowledge can be possessed by itself, explicit knowledge must rely on being tacitly understood and applied. Hence all knowledge is either tacit or rooted in tacit knowledge. A wholly explicit knowledge is unthinkable.
discovery possibility made
Discoveries are made by pursuing possibilities suggested by existing knowledge.
vocabulary long use
So long as we use a certain language, all questions that we can ask will have to be formulated in it and will thereby confirm the theory of the universe which is implied in the vocabulary and structure of the language.
meaningful people doe
A free society is regarded as one that does not engage, on principle, in attempting to control what people find meaningful, and a totalitarian society is regarded as one that does, on principle, attempt such control.
responsibility exercise principles
Human beings exercise responsibilities within a social setting and a framework of obligations which transcend the principle of intelligence.
rewards pieces accepting
We do not accept a religion because it offers us certain rewards. The only thing that a religion can offer us is to be just what it, in itself, is: a greater meaning in ourselves, in our lives, and in our grasp of the nature of things...a religion exists for us only if, like a piece of poetry, it carries us away. It is not in any sense a 'hypothesis.
topography physics defined
But even physics cannot be defined from an atomic topography.
knowledge hands people
The amount of knowledge which we can justify from evidence directly available to us can never be large. The overwhelming proportion of our factual beliefs continue therefore to be held at second hand through trusting others, and in the great majority of cases our trust is placed in the authority of comparatively few people of widely acknowledged standing.