Nigel Warburton Quotes

#1. Mill was very clear on this point: offence should not be confused with harm.

Nigel Warburton

#2. Preserving freedom of speech maximizes the chance of truth emerging from its collision with error and half-truth.

Nigel Warburton

#3. Even if I believe my opinion to be true, and am highly confident about its truth, unless it is 'fully, frequently and fearlessly' discussed, I will end up holding it as a dead dogma, a formulaic and unthinking response.

Nigel Warburton

#4. Philosophy is not a spectator sport.

Nigel Warburton

#5. Users of slippery slope arguments should take skiing lessons - you really can choose to stop.

Nigel Warburton

#6. Marx's main interest was in economic relationships since in his view they shape everything that we are and can become.

Nigel Warburton

#7. Kierkegaard was a Christian, though he hated the Danish Church and couldn't accept the way complacent Christians around him behaved. For him, religion was a heart-wrenching option, not a cosy excuse for a song in church.

Nigel Warburton

#8. In 1755 one of the worst natural disasters of the eighteenth century occurred: the Lisbon earthquake that killed more than 20,000 people. This Portuguese city was devastated not just by the earthquake, but also by the tsunami that followed, and then by fires that raged for days.

Nigel Warburton

#9. The best way to eliminate all suffering in the world would be to eliminate all sentient life. If there were no living things capable of feeling pain, then there would be no pain.

Nigel Warburton

#10. Anyone who silences someone else because they believe the other person's opinion is false assumes infallibility. They must be absolutely certain that they are correct on the matter.

Nigel Warburton

#11. If you only know your own side of a case, then your belief is likely to be inadequate. You need to be able to refute counter-arguments to your position otherwise you aren't justified in your belief even if it happens to be true.

Nigel Warburton

#12. The best way to live, then, was this: have a very simple lifestyle, be kind to those around you, and surround yourself with friends.

Nigel Warburton