So choosing thou shall live secure,
And freedom to thy sons inure,
Till Time shall be no more.
Carlyle's saying that a ship could never be taken round Cape Horn if the crew were consulted every time the captain proposed to alter the course, if taken seriously as an analogical argument against Representative Government, is open to the objection that the differences between a ship and a State are too great for any argument from one to the other to be of value. It was such fallacious analogies as these that Heine had in view in his humorous prayer, "Heaven defend us from the Evil One and from metaphors".
[Footnote 1:] Hamilton's Reid, p. 236.
[Footnote 2:] Bain's Logic, ii. 145.
PRINTED AT THE EDINBURGH PRESS, 9 AND 12 YOUNG STREET
| Transcriber's Note If your computer doesn't read Greek, or if you would like the transliteration, run your mouse over the Greek words (Ελληνικές λέξεις) to see the approximation in Latin font. [*]p. 113: "(ἀνεὸ συμπλοκὴς)" corrected to "(ἄνευ συμπλοκῆς)". Aristotle wrote: "Τῶν λεγομένων τά μέν κατά συμπλοκήν λέγεται, τά δέ ἄνευ συμπλοκῆς ... " (~Categoriae 1a16-17) "... τά δέ ἄνευ συμπλοκῆς, οἷον ἄνθρωπος, βοῦς, τρέχει, νικᾷ." (~Categoriae 1a18-19) " ...πάντα δὲ τὰ εἰρημένα ἄνευ συμπλοκῆς λέγεται."(~Categoriae: same document as above) but the book scans give the following: "He (Aristotle) explains that by "out of syntax" (ἀνεὸ συμπλοκὴς) he means without reference to truth or falsehood:...." ... "ἀνεὸ" would appear to be an error. |