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
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.
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.
communication feelings intellectual
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.
community body way
My title is intended to suggest that the community of scientists is organized in a way which resembles certain features of a body politic and works according to economic principles similar to those by which the production of material goods is regulated.
exercise light agents
But the system of prices ruling the market not only transmits information in the light of which economic agents can mutually adjust their actions, it also provides them with an incentive to exercise economy in terms of money.
body juniors scientist
Admittedly, scientific authority is not distributed evenly throughout the body of scientists; some distinguished members of the profession predominate over others of a more junior standing.
acceptance use belief
Of course language manifests a belief only if we use its words with the implied acceptance of their appositeness.
law inanimate-objects determined
No inanimate object is ever fully determined by the laws of physics and chemistry.
theory-of-evolution creative existence
Theories of evolution must provide for the creative acts which brought such theories into existence.
achievement chemistry physics
And the actual achievements of biology are explanations in terms of mechanisms founded on physics and chemistry, which is not the same thing as explanations in terms of physics and chemistry.
light organization choices
The first thing to make clear is that scientists, freely making their own choice of problems and pursuing them in the light of their own personal judgment, are in fact co-operating as members of a closely knit organization.
example topography principles
We could not, for example, arrive at a principle like that of entropy without introducing some additional principle, such as randomness, to this topography.