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Jo Wehler
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More than 2.500 years ago the Greek philosopher Xenophanes expresses a similar view (Translation due to K. Popper):

But as for certain truth, no man has known it,
Nor will he know it; neither of the gods,
Nor yet of all the things of which I speak.
And even if by chance he were to utter
The perfect truth, he would himself not know it:
For all is but a woven web of guesses.   

These lines can be taken as an entry point to the theory of cognition due to the modern philosopher Karl Popper.

There is not only a destructive viewpoint, but Popper develops the positive insight of his theory of falsification, see Karl Popper: In Search of a Better World, the lecture "Toleration and intellectual responsibility".

Jo Wehler
  • 42.7k
  • 3
  • 39
  • 121