| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: subject of philosophy may be regarded, he is secretly elaborating a system.
By such a use of language any premises may be made to lead to any
conclusion. I am not one of those who believe Plato to have been a mystic
or to have had hidden meanings; nor do I agree with Dr. Jackson in thinking
that 'when he is precise and dogmatic, he generally contrives to introduce
an element of obscurity into the expostion' (J. of Philol.). The great
master of language wrote as clearly as he could in an age when the minds of
men were clouded by controversy, and philosophical terms had not yet
acquired a fixed meaning. I have just said that Plato is to be interpreted
by his context; and I do not deny that in some passages, especially in the
Republic and Laws, the context is at a greater distance than would be
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne: dressed in a jacket, white linen breeches, and an apron, the pockets of
which were his delight. The clever orang had been marvelously trained by
Neb, and any one would have said that the Negro and the ape understood each
other when they talked together. Jup had besides a real affection for Neb,
and Neb returned it. When his services were not required, either for
carrying wood or for climbing to the top of some tree, Jup passed the
greatest part of his time in the kitchen, where he endeavored to imitate
Neb in all that he saw him do. The black showed the greatest patience and
even extreme zeal in instructing his pupil, and the pupil exhibited
remarkable intelligence in profiting by the lessons he received from his
master.
The Mysterious Island |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Pagan and Christian Creeds by Edward Carpenter: consciousness has a material form of some kind, will be the
first to admit this.
The same remarks apply to the Third Stage. We can see
that in modern times the huge and unlimited powers of
production by machinery, united with a growing tendency
towards intelligent Birth-control, are preparing the way
for an age of Communism and communal Plenty which
will inevitably be associated (partly as cause and partly as
effect) with a new general phase of consciousness, involving
the mitigation of the struggle for existence, the growth
of intuitional and psychical perception, the spread of amity
Pagan and Christian Creeds |
