Hans Reichenbach - The rise of scientific philosophy

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Philosophy is regarded by many as inseparable from speculation.... Philosophy has proceeded from speculation to science.

Hans Reichenbach
The essence of knowledge is generalization. That fire can be produced by rubbing wood in a certain way is a knowledge derived by generalization from individual experiences; the statement means that rubbing wood in this way will always produce fire. The art of discovery is therefore the art of correct generalization.

Hans Reichenbach
If error is corrected whenever it is recognized as such, the path of error is the path of truth.

Hans Reichenbach
Instead of asking for a cause of the universe, the scientist can ask only for the cause of the present state of the universe; and his task will consist in pushing farther and farther back the date from which he is able to account for the universe in terms of laws of nature.

Hans Reichenbach
To say that observations of the past are certain, whereas predictions are merely probable, is not the ultimate answer to the question of induction; it is only a sort of intermediate answer, which is incomplete unless a theory of probability is developed that explains what we should mean by "probable" and on what ground we can assert probabilities.

Hans Reichenbach
Whereas inorganic nature was seen to be controlled by the laws of cause and effect, organic nature appeared to be governed by the law of purpose and means.

Hans Reichenbach
The study of inductive inference belongs to the theory of probability, since observational facts can make a theory only probable but will never make it absolutely certain.

Hans Reichenbach
Like pebbles on the beach, biological species are ordered through a selective cause; chance in combination with selection produces order.

Hans Reichenbach
Teleology is analogism, is pseudo explanation; it belongs in speculative philosophy, but has no place in scientific philosophy.

Hans Reichenbach
The scientist who discovers a theory is usually guided to his discovery by guesses; he cannot name a method by means of which he found the theory and can only say that it appeared plausible to him, that he had the right hunch or that he saw intuitively which assumption would fit the facts.

Hans Reichenbach
The belief in science has replaced in large measure, the belief in God. Even where religion was regarded as compatible with science, it was modified by the mentality of the believer in scientific truth.

Hans Reichenbach