The
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
maxim , meaning "we do not know and will not know", represents the idea that
scientific knowledge is limited. It was popularized by
Emil du Bois-Reymond, a German
physiologist
Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemica ...
, in his 1872 address ("The Limits of Science").
Seven "World Riddles"
Emil du Bois-Reymond first used the words and at the close of his keynote address to the 1872 Congress of German Scientists and Physicians. As he saw it, science was bounded by two limits: the ultimate nature of matter and the enigma of consciousness. Eight years later, in a speech before the
Prussian Academy of Sciences
The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...
, he expanded his list of conundrums to
seven "world riddles" or "shortcomings" of science. Three of these he declared to be "
transcendent", or permanently unknowable: "1. the ultimate nature of matter and energy, 2. the origin of motion, ... 5. the origin of simple
sensations."
Hilbert's reaction
David Hilbert
David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician, one of the most influential mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many ...
, a widely-respected German mathematician, suggested that such a conceptualization of human knowledge was too pessimistic, and that by considering questions unsolvable we limit our understanding.
In 1900, during an address to the International Congress of Mathematicians in Paris, Hilbert suggested that answers to problems of mathematics are possible with human effort. He declared, "in mathematics there is no ", and he worked with other
formalists to establish
foundations for mathematics during the early 20th century.
On 8 September 1930, Hilbert elaborated his opinion in a celebrated address to the Society of German Scientists and Physicians, in
Königsberg
Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was ...
:
[
Answers to some of Hilbert's Program of 23 problems were found during the 20th century. Some have been answered definitively; some have not yet been solved; a few, most notably Cantor's continuum hypothesis, have been shown to be undecidable on the basis of currently accepted principles.
In 1931, ]Gödel's incompleteness theorems
Gödel's incompleteness theorems are two theorems of mathematical logic that are concerned with the limits of in formal axiomatic theories. These results, published by Kurt Gödel in 1931, are important both in mathematical logic and in the phil ...
showed that for any formal system of mathematics satisfying certain minimal requirements, there exist questions that cannot be answered within that system. While this does not exclude that the question can be answered unambiguously in another system, the incompleteness theorems are generally taken to imply that Hilbert's hopes for proving the consistency of mathematics using purely finitistic methods were unfounded. As this excludes the possibility of an absolute proof of consistency, there must always remain an ineliminable degree of insecurity about the foundations of mathematics: we will never be capable of knowing, once and for all, with a certainty unimpeachable even by the most stout skepticism, that there is no contradiction in our basic theories. (Note that this does not mean that such skepticism is rational; it only means that it cannot be refuted with absolute rigour.)
Other responses
The sociologist Wolf Lepenies
Wolf Lepenies (born 11 January 1941) is a German sociologist, political scientist, and author.
Biography
Lepenies was born near Allenstein, East Prussia (now Olsztyn, Poland), in 1945 his family fled from the Soviet Army's assault on East Prussia ...
discussed the with the opinion that du Bois-Reymond was not really pessimistic about science:
This was in regards to Friedrich Wolters
Friedrich Wilhelm Wolters (2 September 1876, Uerdingen - 14 April 1930. Munich) was a German historian, poet and translator; one of the central figures in the George-Kreis.
Life and work
He was the son of Friedrich Wolters, a businessman, and r ...
, one of the members of the literary group " George-Kreis". Lepenies thought that Wolters misunderstood the degree of pessimism being expressed about science, but understood the implication that scientists themselves could be trusted with self-criticism
Self-criticism involves how an individual evaluates oneself. Self-criticism in psychology is typically studied and discussed as a negative personality trait in which a person has a disrupted self-identity. The opposite of self-criticism would be ...
.
Lepenies was repeating the criticism, first leveled in 1874 by du Bois-Reymond's rival Ernst Haeckel
Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new s ...
, that the "seemingly humble but actually presumptuous is the of the infallible Vatican and of the 'Black International' which it heads." Haeckel overstated his charge: du Bois-Reymond had never supported the Catholic Church, and far from professing humility he reminded his audience that while our knowledge was indeed bounded by mysteries of matter and mind, within these limits "the man of science is lord and master; he can analyze and synthesize, and no one can fathom the extent of his knowledge and power".
In response to his critics du Bois-Reymond modified his watchword in ''The Seven World Riddles'' (1880) to that of ("We doubt it.")
The issue of whether science has limits continues to attract scholarly attention.
William James
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States.
James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...
has referred to this maxim in his lecture "Reflex action and theism" in relating it to agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficien ...
, which gives man no practical tools for his volitions.
The ''Quarterly Review'' also regarded the maxim as the ensign of agnosticism:To the average citizen who reads as he runs, and who is unacquainted with any tongue save his native British, it may well appear that the Gospel of Unbelief, preached among us during the last half-century, has had its four Evangelists–the Quadrilateral, as they have been called, whose works and outworks, demilunes and frowning bastions, take the public eye, while above them floats the agnostic banner with its strange device, ‘''Ignoramus et Ignorabimus''.’
See also
* Acatalepsy
In philosophy, acatalepsy (from the Greek ἀκαταληψία "inability to comprehend" from alpha privative and καταλαμβάνειν, "to seize") is incomprehensibleness, or the impossibility of comprehending or conceiving a thing. I ...
* Hubris
Hubris (; ), or less frequently hybris (), describes a personality quality of extreme or excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance. The term ''arrogance'' comes from the Latin ', mean ...
* I know that I know nothing
"I know that I know nothing" is a saying derived from Plato's account of the Greek philosopher Socrates: ''"For I was conscious that I knew practically nothing..."'' (Plato, Apology 22d, translated by Harold North Fowler, 1966). Socrates himself ...
* Ignorance management
Ignorance management is a knowledge management practice that addresses the concept of ignorance in organizations.
Overview
Logically, ignorance management is based upon the concept of ignorance. John Israilidis, Russell Lock, and Louise Cooke of L ...
* Ignotum per ignotius
* List of Latin phrases
__NOTOC__
This is a list of Wikipedia articles of Latin phrases and their translation into English.
''To view all phrases on a single, lengthy document, see: List of Latin phrases (full)''
The list also is divided alphabetically into twenty pag ...
* Strong agnosticism
* Unknown unknown
Notes
{{Skepticism
Epistemology of science
Philosophical phrases
Latin words and phrases
Concepts in epistemology
Ignorance
Skepticism
1870s neologisms
Quotations from literature
Quotations from philosophy