The Hand Is The Cutting Edge Of

It Is Important That Students Bring A Certain Ragamuffin, Barefoot Irreverence To Their Studies; They Are Not Here To Worship What Is Known, But To Question It.

Ask An Impertinent Question And You Are On The Way To The Pertinent Answer.

Knowledge Is Not A Loose-leaf Notebook Of Facts. Above All, It Is A Responsibility For The Integrity Of What We Are, Primarily Of What We Are As Ethical Creatures.

A Popular Cliche In Philosophy Says That Science Is Pure Analysis Or Reductionism, Like Taking The Rainbow To Pieces; And Art Is Pure Synthesis, Putting The Rainbow Together. This Is Not So. All Imagination Begins By Analyzing Nature.

By The Worldly Standards Of Public Life, All Scholars In Their Work Are Of Course Oddly Virtuous. They Do Not Make Wild Claims, They Do Not Cheat, They Do Not Try To Persuade At Any Cost, They Appeal Neither To Prejudice Nor To Authority, They Are Often Frank About Their Ignorance, Their Disputes Are Fairly Decorous, They Do Not Confuse What Is Being Argued With Race, Politics, Sex Or Age, They Listen Patiently To The Young And To The Old Who Both Know Everything. These Are The General Virtues Of Scholarship, And They Are Peculiarly The Virtues Of Science.