Joseph Addison Quotes
It must be so, Plato, thou reason'st well!
Addison, Joseph. Cato, A Tragedy. J. Tonson, 1713.
This is a modern summary of the philosophy of Benedict Spinoza who developed the modern philosophical foundation of science and scientific thinking. When the authorities are clerics and religious leaders, their authority gets undermined which is why the Jews, Christians, and Muslims all excommunicated Spinoza. For the scientists, they themselves are to be rejected as determiners of knowledge and truth so they tend to do poorly in political disputes because the good scientists would never assert a belief that the politicians should listen to them just because they are great scientists and they “know.” It is the ideologues and junk scientists who are sure of their testimony and can advise with certainty. See linked quote(s).
Much of Western society, even in the 21st century has tended to distrust logic, reasonng and emperical research unless there was some kind of philosophical, religious, ethical or idological corroberation. Often science is rejected or ignored if its results do not conform with Westrern society's traditional values. Climate change and evolution are two of the more dramatic example of the continuing influence of the transcendentalists and religious fundamentalists.
Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard Steele, with whom he founded The Spectator magazine. His simple prose style marked the end of the mannerisms and conventional classical images of the 17th century.
