来自Francis Crick on Philosophy of Science

From V.S. Ramachandran's eulogy, The Astonishing Francis Crick, by way of Kitabkhana.

He had very little patience with orthodox philosophers. He felt they became too prematurely trapped in matters of terminology. I am reminded of a seminar on consciousness he gave at the Salk in the eighties. A philosopher—whose name politeness forbids me from mentioning—raised his hand and said "But Dr Crick … you are attempting to solve the so-called problem of consciousness yet you haven't even bothered to define it...can you clearly define what you are talking about?" Crick's reply: "My dear chap, there was never a time in the pre-DNA era when a lot of us biologists sat around the table and said 'Let us first clearly define life before we explore it'. We just went out there, forged ahead and found out what it was. It's no doubt good to have a rough idea of what one is talking about but matters of terminology are best left to philosophers who spend most of their time on such things. Indeed clear definitions often emerge from empirical research. We now no longer quibble over questions like is a virus really alive". Semantic hygiene, Crick felt, was largely a waste of time. ...