Search -
Original Views of Passages in the Life and Writings of the Poet-Philosopher of Venusia
Original Views of Passages in the Life and Writings of the PoetPhilosopher of Venusia Author:John Murray Subtitle: With Which Is Combined an Illustration of the Suitability of the Ancient Epic and Lyric Styles to Modern Subjects of National and General Interest General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1851 Original Publisher: Hodges and Smith Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustra... more »tions and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: 217 SECTION IV. TRIFLING PROPOSITIONS ATTRIBUTED TO ROMAN SATIRISTS EXAMINED. Few modes of verbal expression less aid the discovery of truth, or less influence its diffusion, either in knowledge or practice, than formal enunciation of truisms. Assimilated in outline both to the axiom and the proverb, such propositions possess neither the theoretical applicability of the one, nor the practical conclusiveness of the other. They may certainly assist very weak (as in children), or very slow, perceptions to comprehend inferences or appreciate duties; and are even employed with advantage in exemplification by that Art which systematizes the processes of the thinking mind, as animal mechanics reduce to law the energies of the moving body. In the former case, however, they are properly truisms only relatively to the teacher ; and in the latter are not used for the sake of the matter which they communicate, but merely as exhibiting, by insignificant but indisputable examples, certain constructions to which even the most valuable materials must be adjusted; just as very weak and inartificial pieces of matter may exemplify the operation of the highest physical functions. But as exponents of actual thought amongst men they betray barrennessof mind even in common conversation, and should be wholly forbidden to disfigure the philosophic page. At the same time it must be observed that it is by the meaning imputed to a pro...« less