Aristotle could have avoided the mistake of thinking that women have fewer teeth than men, by the simple device of asking Mrs. Aristotle to keep her mouth open while he counted.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- He jokes that Aristotle could have avoided the false claim about women's teeth by simply asking a woman to open her mouth.
- In plain terms
- Russell points out the absurdity of Aristotle's claim with a simple test.
- What can you take from it?
- Simple empirical checks can debunk mistaken beliefs.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What simple tests can we apply to other myths?
- Why do obvious errors persist?
Another view
Historical context may explain why such claims persisted.
More from Bertrand Russell
For my part I distrust all generalizations about women, favourable and unfavourable, masculine and feminine, ancient and modern; all alike, I should say, resul…
Permalink to quote #169 The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. Persecution is used in theology, not in arithmetic, bec…
Permalink to quote #171 Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones.
Permalink to quote #168
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