ON THE NATURE OF TRUTH AND KNOWLEDGE

“But of course, truth is no more a necessary than a sufficient consideration for choice of statement. Not only may the choice often be a statement that is more nearly right in other respects over one that is the more nearly true, but where truth is too finicky, too uneven, and does mot fit comfortably with other principles, we may choose the nearest amenable and illuminating lie. Most scientific laws are of this sort: not assiduous reports of detailed data but sweeping Procrustean simplifications.”

N Goodman, Ways of Worldmaking, Quoted in Clifford Geertz, “Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology,” Basic Books, Third Edition, 2000, footnote to page 184.