Henricus Antonius Franciscus Maria Oliva "Hans" van Mierlo (August 18, 1931 – March 11, 2010) was a Dutch politician of the Democrats 66 (D66). In 1966 Van Mierlo together with Hans Gruijters founded the Democrats 66. He served as Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives for a total of 14 years, from February 16, 1967 until September 1, 1973 and from May 22, 1986 until August 19, 1994. He has been member of both the Senate and House of Representatives of the States-General.
He served as Minister of Defense from September 11, 1981 until November 4, 1982 in the Cabinets van Agt II and III. He later served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister from August 22, 1994 until August 3, 1998 in the Cabinet Kok I.
On October 24, 1998 he was granted the honorary title of Minister of State.
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“My position is a naturalistic one; I see philosophy not as an a priori propaedeutic or groundwork for science, but as continuous with science. I see philosophy and science as in the same boat—a boat which, to revert to Neurath’s figure as I so often do, we can rebuild only at sea while staying afloat in it. There is no external vantage point, no first philosophy.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)