The Theory Of Everything: The Origin and Fate of the Universe

by Stephen Hawking

It seems to me much better and less confusing if you admit in print that you were wrong. A good example of this was Einstein, who said that the cosmological constant, which he introduced when he was trying to make a static model of the universe, was the biggest mistake of his life.

Philosophers reduced the scope of their inquiries so much that Wittgenstein, the most famous philosopher of this century, said, “The sole remaining task for philosophy is the analysis of language.” What a comedown from the great tradition of philosophy from Aristotle to Kant.

However, if we do discover a complete theory, it should in time be understandable in broad principle by everyone, not just a few scientists. Then we shall all be able to take part in the discussion of why the universe exists. If we find the answer to that, it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason. For then we would know the mind of God.