McKeon-Thought, Action and Passion (1954)-Introduction.pdf

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IntroductioThe influence fideas and deals s not found n patternsofac-

tions rigidly determined, nd the sensed ontinuity of cultures snever formulated unambiguously.What is effective on men's

mindsand eelingsandwhat persistsn their thought and magina

tion are only partially and emporarily expressedn bodies fdoc-

trines ound n oneageand ransmitted rom age o ege.The story

ofideal influence ndcultural continuitycannotbe old definitelyor

finally. Doctrinesand beliefsaremodifiedas hey are repeated nd

reinforced n traditions,and he history of the commonpestmust

be re-examined nd reformulatedby each age and by each com-

munity to account or the emergence f new circumstanceshat

give agesand communitiesheir peculiarcharacter ndspirit. Old

andnew, tradition and change, ermanence ndrelativity are not

simple opposites, or are they simply discoveredn the facts of

humanactionandexpression. hey are encounteredn the theorie

and historiesby which the facts are explained nd n which new

succeeds ld, old supplants ew, and theory and history becom

themselves artsof a processn which continuity and change re

mingled in the prosecution of a common inquiry and unending

dialogue.

In the inquiry that has associatedmen n progressivelyarger

andmore nterdependentroups,menhave urned rom investigat

ing immediate racdcalproblemso makingandenioying hingsof

beautyor to speculating n eternalmysteries ndenigmas-some

times combining practical, aesthetic,and theoretic; sometimeseparatinghe accumulationsf knowledge, ot only from the er-

rors discarded nd the ignorance uperseded,ut also rom other

humanaccomplishmentslassified or that purposeas emotional

imaginative, r mystic; sometimes singpastacquisitions f knowl-

edgeor informationas nstruments or further inquiry; sometime

I rn

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Thought, Actian, and Passton

returning o hypothesesrematurelydiscarded, r refurbishing c-

cepteddoctrines o adjust hem to newer data,or abandoninghe

old and constructing adically new theoriesand amassing ata

which were inaccessible ntil the concepts hat marked hem off

were discovered r formed. n the dialoguewhich began efore he

beginning f history, nterlocutors aveparticipated or a time and

then havedisappeared, hile others,more recentlyarrived,have

continued he themes heir predecessors ad discussed nd the

words hey hadused-sometimes orgetfulof theoriginalproblem

or ingeniousn discovering nsuspectedspects, ndoften nsensi

tive to the meanings n which the words were usedwhen they

picked up the threadof discussion r inattentive o the nuances f

distinctions he words oncecarried; sometimesntroducingnew

problemswhichbent he alteredwords o still newermeanings nd

associationsndwhichaltered he old arts and echniques fstate-

mentandproof; sometimes dapting ewly devisednstrumentso

transformold problems.

The commonnquiry andadventure,hecontinuing ialogue nd

co-operation re, ike everything lse,subjectmatter or theory andscience.Humannatureandhumancommunityhavebeenset orth

and orderedaccording o t heological,anthropological, iological

philosophical,metaphysical, sychological, emantic, ociological

geographic,osmological, r economic rinciples.Histories ecount

thesuccessionsr patterns factionand houghtwith theaid ofone

or another fthesedoctrines nd n substantiationfits assumption

But the relationsofthe sciencesnd he successionsfthe histories

are, n turn, steps n the nquiry andphasesn the dialogue.Partici-

pants n the nquiry andspeakersn the dialogue roceed s fthey

wereengaged niquely npromoting cceptancef truedoctrines nd

sound roofs n acontextofacceptedactsandestablishedciencesandour analyses fstates ofaffairs, actualandpast,are requently

framedas f doctrine,belief,andaction all into placeby conform-

ing to uniquepatternsor sequencesistoricallydetermined nddis-

putableonly by the gnorant, he biased, r the malicious.Yet he

ambiguityof conceptsn theoreticdisputations nd he multiplicity

Izn

Introduction

of interpretations of historical facts may also suggest,not that we

ought to eliminate ambiguity from our statements or that we shall

ever be able to do so, if that were desirable, nor that we ought to

agree on the facts of our situation, but rather that our efforts to use

knowledge and history to guide actions are involved in problems

similar to those of scientists faced by opposedhypotheses and to

thosehistorians faced by mutually inconsistent interpretations.

It is difficult to apply knowledge to action, not only because he

motives that lead men to act are not basically, or even largely, ra-

tional, but also becausewhat is advancedas relevant knowledge in

any problematic situation is not a single consistent body of doctrine

and does not indicate a unique course of action. We have almost

ceased o notice, to cite one striking example, the differences and

oppositions between the diagnosis of the problems of our times

which traces the persistent crises of a scientific and technological

age to the fact that our moral and spiritual development has not

kept pace with our scientific and technological advance and the

diagnosis ofour troubles as due to the fact that the social sciences

have agged behind the natural sciencesand that our power to con-

trol nature exceedsour power to control man. It is difficult to learn

from history, not only because he past is never wholly repeated

and what is relevant in analogies rom the past is not easily deter-

mined, but also becausewhat is advanced as history reflects the

circumstances and convictions among which the history was con-

ceived as well as he conditions and actions t sets orth. Historians

in the West have in recent decades constructed accounts of the

characteristics of civilizations, their development, deca/, and death,

to balanceMarxist inquiries into history as part of the scienceof

the history of society according to which society moves nevitably

through fixed stagesdetermined by relations and means ofproduc-tion to an ideal classless ociet/; not only are the historiescontra-

dictory in the data selected, n the interpretations put on common

data, and in the relations found to connect data, but also it is not

immediately apparent how men may learn from either account to

advance or prevent processeswhich are inevitable or, at least, to

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Thought, Action, and Passion

whichno exceptions avebeen ecorded. he problemswhicharise

in applyingscience r history to actionarenot scientificor histori-

cal: in their theoretic orm they aremetaphysical roblems f first

principles; n their practical orm they are rhetoricalproblemsof

persuasion.

The problemsof a cultureandof the relationsamongculftres,

which arestatedn theory andnarratedn history,areencountere

and resolvedn the clashof theoriesand he oppositions f tradi-

tions.A communityor a civilization s a productof antecedentir-

cumstances;t is alsoan expression f a set of beliefsconcemin

thenatureof thingsandanevaluation f what s worth while' With-

in the communityor theculture, he antecedentonditions re nter-

preted n a variety of histories, nd he cornmon eliefsconcemin

realiryandvalues re nterpretedn a variety of theories.Commit-

mentsand convictions oncerningwhat is true andwhat s impor-

tant are mingled n the operation fhistorical processes,nd hose

processes,n turn, are expoundedn historiescommitted o prin-

cipleswhichresult n varianthistorical nterpretations fthe conse

quencesfconvictions.They have heir groundsn reality andproc-esses, ut thosegrounds re ormulatedn philosophiesndscience

which areconstructedo take account,n the sphere f humanand

socialactions, f the differences mong hilosophiesndamonghe

organizations fsciences.Tiadition hasbeen hechannel swell as

theobstacle fchange.Revolutions avesoughthenew by a return

to the old, and,when hey havesought o avoid he old, they have

rediscovered ld ways and values,old predicamentsnd problem

at the peakoftheir revolutionarysuccess. hilosophersnd scien

tistshaveorganized ymbolsn demonstrativeystems, avesough

the verificationof systems n facts and experience, ndhavepro-

moteddoctrines ndmethodsn an effort to secure cceptanceorthemby a consensusfall men,or ofthe exPerts r the educated r

the elite,or, at least,ofa schoolor a sector a Pafty' but they have

also ecognizedhat heir systems f symbols,heirempirical erifi-

cations, nd heir proofsdepend n he formationof concepts hich

[4n

Introduction

face out on the unexplored and determine the alterations or revolu-

tions of their systems.

In the processesof objective history (which include among his-

torical phenomena he construction ofhistories by historians) and n

the processesof objective nature (which include among empirical

social facts the formation oftheories by scientists andphilosophers)

continuity and change are found in themes and concepts, arts and

techniques,data and purposes. A civilization which has a common

past and a common set of values is bound together by symbols

which are the source of common action and mutual confidenceand

understanding. o ong as h e symbols are viable, he civilization is

vital, and the symbols are a source only ofconcepts for inquiry and

themesfor discussion.The symbols of a civilization by which men

live and act are elaborated n myth and history, in belief and knowl-

edge.A crisis of civilization is a failure of symbols as a bond binding

men in the community they previously recognized and as an in-

spiration leading them to common action for common purposes.

New histories are then composedand new efforts are madeto con-

vert all men or an elite or a sec t to one of the doctrines which in-terpret reality and values.Suchefforts succeed ometimes,but they

never secure more than partial and temporary consensus, nd their

successn the past has usually been due less to the valuesor the

truths they celebrate han to somespeciesof force-the influence of

material and economiccircumstance, ocialpressure,political con-

trol, or military power. Even when they are successful,moreover,

the form and content of doctrine and belief are modified by the

same processes hat lead to the resolution of differences of belief

and doctrine by conviction and force, by influence and resistance-

the successof peaceful and violent social change s due to the ef-

ficacy of the themes and the concepts, he arts and the techniques,which are the sourcesof the interpretations we give to the nature of

things and to their operation and development.

The four themes which are treated in the essays brought to-

gether in this volume-love, truth, freedom, and imitation-are

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Thought, Actian, and Passion

themeswhich were fust givena prominent lace n the nquiry an

thedialogue f Western ivilizationby Greekpoets, tatesmen, nphilosophers. hey havecontinued inceantiquity to be concept

aboutwhichmenhaveorganizednquiry nto,anddiscussionf, ourcommon ives and pu{poses. he history of the influenceof theGreeks hasbeen etold in every age rom AlexandriaandRome opresentday ormulations f anemergingworld community, ut the

different udgments fthe adequacy ftheir idealsandconceptiohave hemselves eenparts of the discussion f common hemesThe nfluence f the Greekshasbeen xalted nddisputedor qualities attributed o themand or reasons lleged o accountor or to

diminish heir accomplishments.he miracleof Greecewas thatone small community of men-not indeedof all Greeks but ofGreeks esident n Athensduringa few generations--developedomany themesand perfectedso many techniqueshat have continued o occupymen n their individual ives, their arts, their association,and their pursuit of knowledge,wisdom,and spirituavalues.

Love, truth, freedom,and imitation have been defined,devel-oped, and applied n theorieswhich depan from Greek conceptions; and the historieswhich recount he development f thosthemes ind Greek practicesand doctrinesdeficient n many re-spects.The Greek doctrineof love,despite he ofty reaches ndsubtleelaborationsf the Platonic heory, wassupplementedy theChristianconception f divine ove and charity. Yet St. Augustin

found he hemes nd he dialectic or the systematicormulationofChristiancharity n the doctrines f Plotinus..

Greek mathematicians,stronomers, hysicians,and philosophers,despiteheprogresshey maden formalizing, ystematizin

and advancingknowledge n astronomy,mathemadcs, hysicsmeteorology, nd biology,anddespite heir monumental onsrruction of logicaldevices nd echniques nd heir profoundexplorations of the natureand requirements f truth, did not succeednelaboratinghe nstruments,n defining he concepts, r in makingthe measurementsequired or the establishmenr f empiricaland

Ion

Introduction

experimental ciences.Yet at eachstage of the development f

modernsciencehe themes nd heproblems n which the Greeks

exercisedheir ngenuity eappear, ometimesn explicit reference

sometimesn distantecho,sometimesn distorted efutation: Co-

pernicusquotesGreek astronomical heories which he learne

about rom Cicero; Galileo developed is mechanicsn the contex

of the disputes f AristoteliansandAverroists n Padua;Descane

inventedhis geometry o solve problemsposedby Greek mathe

maticiansand Fermat a id the foundations f number heory to

translate heir insights nto new symbolic orms; Cuvier andDar-

win expressed dmiration or the observationsand theories of

Aristotle; Whiteheadborrowed nspiraticnand erminology rom

Plato o expresshe organic nterrelations fhis philosophy fsci-

ence;and modern scientists requentlyclarify the basicassump

tions oftheir t heories y quarrelingwith conceptshey attribute o

Aristotle.

Greek societyandpolity had heir economicoundationn slav-

ery; the love of freedomwhich Periclescelebratedn his Funera

Orationdid not extend o all residents f Athens.and heAtheniandemocracywas an oligarchy; Plato, Aristotle, andother political

theorists n Athensdid not number democracy"among he "per-

fect" forms of government. etWesternman earned o talk about

freedomand ustice,order and he rule of law from Greek poets

thinkers, and men of action; and eighteenth-centuryhilosopher

and revolutionistsiustified democracyby meansof distinctions

arguments, nd principles hat had their origins in Greek theory

andpractice.

The concept f imitationoccupied fundamental lace n Greek

theories f science, orals, rt, and heto ric; t wasdisplacedrom

that central position and found inadequaten later critical, phe-nomenological, nd pragmatic heoriesof truth and n creativeand

expressive heories of art and beauty. \tt the influenceof the

variousdoctrines f imitation s apparent, ot only negativelyn the

doctrinesset up to supplant hem, but positively n the exemplary

uses o which history wasput by precepts pplied n practicalac-

[7 ]



Thought, Actian, and Passian

tion, n the dialectical ndoperational riteria by which he ruth ofhypotheses as testedby application n naturalprocesses, nd nthe echniques hichwereadaptedo differentobjects f imitationin academic,mpressionistic,magistic,expressionisdc,urrealisticand uturistic an.

A themeor a concepts an instrument n the development,e-

fense, and refutation of doctrinesand theories. The history of

themess longer n extentand broader n scopehan hehistory ofthe doctrines hat specify he theme n any field or in any form ofaction,since he development f themes ncludes he significance

and mplicationswhich relate disparate octrines, onnecr he his-toriesofseparatedheories ndsciences, ndexplainheterogeneo

applications f developed octrines n other fields rhan those n

which they originally appeared.Some hemeswhich were first

elaborated y the Greeks have nfluencedater developments f

doctrineby thepattern f intnrelationshey suggested r laid bare.It would be absurd o argue hat Greek philosophers, oets,or

rhetoriciansanticipated he Christiandoctrineof charity, or rhe

psychiatric octrineofsexualurges,or the doctrines fcourtly loveor of romantic ove. They did explore ngeniouslyand magina-

tively the oves hat relateman o man, o woman, o ideas, deals,

and God and hat bind men n families, riendships, nd communi-

ties; and he names f Oedipus,Helen,Aphrodite,Antigone,Hip-

polytus,Damonand Pythias,Orpheus,Alcestis,Achilles,Orestes,

andSocrates avecontinuedo evoke n the mindsof latermen hevastcomplexiryof human oves.Later discussionsf the hemes flove as subconsciousrive, ndividualdesire,communirybond,or

transcendent ttraction,not only extended arly conceptso new

meaningsand applicationsusing Greek examplesor borrowing

Greek names o form technical erms, but played on the inter-dependencesfforms oflove, makingone orm or another unda-

mental o the rest.

Other themes hat bear he marksof Greek origin have nflu-

encedater developmentsf doctrinesby basic istinctionsnd data,

and urther developmentasconsistedn sharpening fthe distinc-

Ien

Introductio

tions in doctrines,correcting and adjusting heories,and supple

mentinghypothesis y hypothesis snew data havebeenaccumu

lated n the successivepplications f morerefined heories.Aris-

totlediscussed otion n termsof time,space,matter, n6nity,and

cause, ut his distinction betweenupward anddownward motion

prevented im from giving mportanceo the deaof inertia,andhis

distinctionbetween iolentandnaturalmotion, between lteration

increase, nd ocal motionstood n the way of his orminga concep

of force.He examinedhe kinds,structures, unctions, ndpartsof

animals, asing is distinctionsn many cases n extraordinaril

acute empirical observations, nd he concentrated ttention on

problems f nutrition, growth, modes f locomotion, eproduction

heredity, truggleor existence,urvival, isease,nddeath;but at

besthe prepared or the later concepts f classification,unction

and evolutionon which biological nquiry hasproceeded ince he

eighteenth nd nineteenth enturies.The characterof the theme

which haveguided he progress f sciences obscured y the m-

portence f the dataon whichconcepts reemployed nd o which

they are adjusted;and he suggestive ower of the interrelationwhich they concealn their ambiguities,which are as frequently

liberating asobstructive, ppears nly occasionallyn the insight

exploredn new discoveries.

Still other themesexploredby the Greekshave nfluencedater

developmentsf doctrines y the enlarging copeJapplicationwhic

they acquiredwith changingcircumstances, eliefs,and institu-

tions.Cynics andStoics onceivedhe equalityandbrotherhood f

man; Christians elated he brotherhood f manand he heavenl

city to the Judeo-Christianonception f God; but only in recent

timeshaveeconomic nd political changes ermitted he extensio

by which the concept f freedom s applied o all menand he en-largement y which t includes conomic, ocial,and culturalas

well aspoliticalandcivil rights.Modernmanhas ediscoveredn

hisefforts o comprehend ndencompasshe our freedoms ome f

the perplexitiesof Antigone's appeal o an unwritten law which

underlies, nd comesnto conflictwith, the aws of states.

l s I



Thought, Actian, and Passian

Finally, some hemes f the Greekshave nfluencedater devel

opments f doctrinesby moving rom field to field, osingsignifi

cantapplicationn one o acquire ew applicationsn another, ften

without attracting aftention to the relations etzueenlu fulds. Plato

andAristotle discussedrt asan mitation of nature;aesthetics n

criticism made ittle sympathetic seof imitation during somepe

riods, ncludinghenineteenth enruryr1rethe hemehashada ong

continuingcareer Hellenisticand Romanrhetoriciansand poet

advisedpoets,historians,and philosopherso imitate the grea

models n their art; Christian writers moved the concept nto

moralsand heologyand advocatedhe mitation of Christ; imita-

tion rpturned o a central mportancen the doctrines f theRenais

sance,and among other applications olitical philosophers ase

their doctrineson the imitation of the pastor the imitation of na-

ture; and he modelswhich scientists onstructed nd the opera

tions they employed nd described ada relation o natureand ts

processes hich the Greekscouldhavenamed mitation.

The discussion nd applicationof themeswhich can be trace

back o the Greekshavebeencarriedon for centuries y arts andtechniqueswhich the Greeks nvented o developand variegate he

themesn which they wereemployed. hey sdll retain he name

given o themby Greek hinkers-logic anddialectic,mathematic

rhetoric, grarnmar, oetic,history, ogistic,sophistic, ristic,criti-

cism,philosophy. ustas he themes f inquiry anddiscussionend

to essume fixity and rigidity in doctrines,conclusions, nd be-

liefs,so oo he echniques finquiry anddiscussionend o ose heir

character sarts and o becomemethods,nstruments, ndorgana f

verificationandproofby whichpostulates, ypotheses, nd belief

are attached o bodiesofdata andby which nquiry and nferenc

are ransformednto formalized ciences. he processes mployein thesemethods re n tum combined nd ransformed y similar

methods- thosewhich n the past ed to the construction f meta-

physics,heologies,riticalphilosophies,hilosophicalnthropol

gies,and epistemologies,r to the elaboration f the dealsof the

communion f saints, he republicof letters,and he consensusf

I ron

Introduction

experts, or, more recently, to the promulgation of the unity of sci-

ences, he homogeneity ofcultures or ages or the patterns and suc-

cessions fcultures, societies, ndepochs, nd he integrationofthe

whole man. On the other hand, just as themes are fertile sourcesof

diverse and even contradictory doctrines, so too techniques are

moved from field to field in heterogeneousapplication to subjects

for which they were not designed n their previous uses: he de-

vices of rhetoric are applied to things as well as to words, to the

construction of methods of discovery in science as well as to the

formation of arguments for persuasion n practical problems or to

the invention of forms and figures in poetry; treatiseson the gram-

mar of scienceor the grammar of politics follow more than a figure

of speech n their search or least pans and simple connedions;

dialectic, whether it finds its foundation in spirit or in mater, sup-

plies a method for all problems; theologians and poets have pro-

fessed sometimes to express ruths beyond the scope of reason or

science,sometimes to give form to insights accessible o cornmon

sense,philosophy, and science n the languageof everyday life;

philosophy is reduced to logic or to historiography or to arr.There is no way to participate in the inquiry or the dialogue, in

which themes are developed and techniques are employed, excepr

by taking a stand on a doctrine which is one expression of a theme

and by using a method which is one development of a technique or

an art. The history of the processeswhich lead to that doctrine-

that belief or philosophy or science-and to the method by which it

is established,extended, and defended, elates \Mhatwent before to

the assumptions and convictions that form the last stage of the

evolution. Yet actual processes ranscend the fixities of doctrines

and the oppositions of historical accounts of their evolution. The

themes that connect the successivedoctrines are ambiguous fromthe point of view of the precisions attained in systematic formula-

tion; and the techniques which move, usually undetected, rom one

application to another arc haphazard from the point of view of

rigorous method. Yet the very ambiguity of the themes and the

freedom of the techniques rom commitment to principle or subject

I r r



Thought, Action, mtd Passnn

matter give them a double value--a hturistic valueas nstruments of

discovery of doctrines and principles, which may then be verified

and applied n determinate and definite form, and an etcpressia€alue

as grounds of common purposes providing a meansof communica-

tion and mutual understanding o proponents of different forms of

expression, different contents of value, and different systems of

proof. The invention and discovery of new hypotheses and prin-

ciples, when they are not purely foftuitous, arise out ofnew vari-

ants of themes and new applications of techniques; and communica-

tion, when it is more than the elaboration of the shared beliefs and

postulates that unite communities, sects, and schools, dependson

the discovery of the common themes to which particular doctrines

give different concretion, the common values to which different

communities give different expression,and the cornmon techniques

to which different methods give different principles, employments,

and systems.

Four themes-love, truth, freedom, and imitation----and four

afts or techniques-philosophy, history, rhetoric, and poetry----are

presented n this volume in four aspectsof their operation in theprocessesof discovery and communication, of concealmentand de-

ception, which elude single definition and simple reduction to the

rules of methods. By the criteria of clear, distinct, and adequate

ideas, the themes are equivocal, yet they are the thesaurusout of

which univocal and analogical definitions evolve and achievepreci-

sion of significance and application. Philosophers criticize the pre-

suppositions and refute the conclusions of other philosophers ac-

cording to the requirements of their own definitions and theories,

yet the relations which give relevanceand significance o their ex-

change of compliments arise from the themes by which they are

joined rather than from the definitions by which they are separated.By the criteria of methodswhosepresumptionsare stated n advance

and whose operations are reduced to rules conforming to require-

ments and criteria, the techniques are indeterminate, inasmuch as

their starting points are undefined,enigmatic, and mysterious, and

their operations nventive, creative, and unpredictable. Yet the tech-

I rz

Introductian

niques provide not only the connections between the stages by

which grammar, rhetoric, logic, dialectic, and poetic have evolved

in practice and n the application ofnormative rules to practice, but

also the connections between the arts which make heterogeneou

applications possible-poetic has afforded the devices o make phi-

losophyan art, dialectic has determinedsuccession s fhistory and

pattems of cultures, logic has supplied categories or metaphysics,

rhetoric has constructed the "proper places" of inductive method

on the analogiesof the "common places" of discourse,and grammar

has suggestedhe "syntax" ofmodern logic.

The theme treated in the fust essay is love; the technique by

which it is developed s philosophy,but in the course of the treat-

ment and in its manner it is apparent that this is properly a theme

for poetry, The interrelations of the treatment of one theme by two

techniques, however, mn counter to the interrelations of things dis-

covered in the development of themes and the use of techniques.

We have tended in recent decades, n spite of our devotion to

philosophies of events, relations, wholes, and organisms, and in

spite ofour avoidance fmisplaced concreteness, ubstances,eparations, and abstractions, o separate he disciplines we practice and

the purposes or which they are employed. Science,and philosophy

in so far as it is made scientific, treat truth and probability and are

cognitive; history sets forth the interrelations and successionsof

concrete events; ethics has recendy borrowed an orientation from

rhetoric, as politics has in the past, to become ejaculatory or per-

suasive; while poetry arousesemotions. These four methods, none-

theless, are not distinct in the context or in the techniques from

which they arise, and according to many philosophies-which we

easily forget when we seek our unities and wholes in the unity of

science,or of culture, or of man-to separate hem is to be guilty ofunwarranted dichotomies and abstractions.

The essay on "Love and Philosophical Analysis" takes its be-

ginning, therefore, in interrelations and interdependencesof loves

and methods explored in Greek philosophy. The techniques of po-

etry and rhetoric lie, as it were, midway between-or in some

I rn




other mannerbeyond he reaches f-both the factual determina

tions of history and the theoretic precisionsof philosophy.To

bring out thecharacter ftechniqueshat nvolvemore hanopinion

but ess han proof the problems f knowledgeandmotivation,of

objectiveact and ranscendentnsightare ocusedn thisessay, ot

on he arge hemes f experiencer intuitian,which mightbeused o

provide he matrix in which contemplation nd action are oined,

but on the themeof love,which is the stimulus o the pursuitofknowledge, heprosecution faction, and he creation r apprecia

tion ofart.

Plato argued hat there is a single method by which truth is

achievedn philosophy, cience, racticalaction,andcommon is-

cussion; hat that method,dialectic, s a methodof discovery,of

proof, of communication, f teaching,and of expression;hat the

use of dialectic simultaneously efines erms,clarifies deas,pre-

paresandpersuades inds,and analyzeshe objective ituation. t

follows, herefore, hatpracticalproblems resolved estby dialec-

tic employed y philosopher-kingsr, failing hat dealsolution,by

right opinionappliedby statesmenndenforced y thepersuasioandpenalties flaws; that poetsshouldproperly be banishedrom

the stateand hat dialecticians nd awgiversshouldbe recognize

to be sounder ndbetterpoetsor, ifthe dialogues e akenseriously

asexamples f dialectic, hat Homer,Hesiod,andPindarshouldbe

rectified, nterpreted, ndappliedby dialecticians;hat history s a

myth which eitherapplies he truths of dialectic n likely srories r

uses he truths of what actually happenedo interpretdialectical

proofasa ikely story.Thesearecomplexities f interrelations nd

mysteries f transformation hich ew "Platonists"havepreserved

in their use of the dialectical methodor in their translationof

Platonic hemes nto Neoplatonicdoctrines.They have rozen he

dialecticof Plato o make t an nstrumentby which to ascendhe

Iadderofloves, the chainofinspirations,or thepartsofrhe divided

line, which in turn have been ontologized nto sharply divided

stages f beingandbecoming, nowledgeand opinion, eality and

process;or they have made he equivalence f the processes f

I r+n

Introduction

reality and the processesof thought into an identity of historical

evolution and intellectual demonstration. Only the constant and

recurrent influence of Plato himself has saved Platonists from the

consequences f scientific or religious dogmatisms and practical

skepticisms by reproducing in the varieties of doctrines nspired by

the dialogues he richnessofthe themes hey explore.

The fact that Plato applied the term "Ideas" to the realities,

which are imitated by things and by thoughts, has ed many of his

interpreters and admirers to conceivehis philosophy in purely, or in

fundamentally, intellectual terms. This is the more surprising, since

few philosophers, not even Augustine and Ambrose, or Rousseau

and Kierkegaard, whose arguments reflect Plato's dialectic and

whose nquiries echo Socrates' ronic questions,have devoted more

thought than Plato to nonrational springs of human action and to

nonintellectual insights into transcerrdentvalues-to love, poetrfr

intoxication, and the mystical perceptions of intuition and religion.

The theme of love, rather than the Idea of the Good, or the One, or

the Beautiful. is suited to focus in human action on motivation and

inspiration nstead ofon the rational analysisof meansand ends;and the techniquesofpoetry, religion, rhetoric, and drinking, which

find their perfection in dialectic and philosophy, are appropriate to

focus attention on the persuasion fmen to action nsteadofon the

analysis of truths by which love operates and in which it 6nds its

ultimate justification. The theme of love carries the analysis,not

simply through varying doctrines of love, but through varying

methods,circumstances,and subiectmatters made relevant to those

doctrines n ancient, medieval,and modern discussions. hat ex-

ploration of the theme permits the statement of modern problems

which arise from lacunae n modern doctrines of love and which

indicate desiderata n methods ofdeveloping and understanding t:

the rich varieties of conceptions of love developed n past discus-

sions of the theme have tended to be reduced n modem times to a

basicsexualconcept, and t has become difficult to treat effectively

the loves which bind men in communities, attach man to ideals, or

draw him into mysteries u'hich exceedself-interest or subconscious

I rs



Thought, Actian, and passio

self-assertion;he echniquesy whichmenengagen inquiry abouloveandaftempt o effectcommunicationave endedo te ieduceto methods fobjectiveverificationoferotic aberrations r sociafrustrations,nsecurities, nd ensions, r, when hey have esistesuch eductionn the echniques fpoetry andpolitics, o be reatedas void of cognitivecontent. t has becom"diffi"ult to state heproblems hat are involved n establishing urposes, lans,meas

ures,policies,or cultural valuesasgenuine"nd gro*d.d propositions n relevantsciences,or problems f actionandmutuaiunder-standing epend ot only on persuading eoplewho are requentlyseparated y doctrines ndbeliefsbut alsoon the adequacy rpur-posesand statements, n the one hand, o cornmonvalues hatunderliedifferences ndon their fidelitR on the other hand, o anobjective ituationwharever hedifferences f the viewsby whichit is approached.

The theme reated n the second ssays truth; the echnique ywhich it is developeds hisnry, for although ruth is prop.rty

"leme for philosophyt is treatedhistoricallymo." fr.querrriy*rnphilosophically, ndeven heaccounrs

hilosophersiveofthe doc-trines of other menasstages r aselementsn the Jevelopment ftheir own positionsare historiesof doctrines hat haveb..n pr"-sented s rue rather handemonstrationsesignedo exhibit ieirtruth' History is not concerned nly with factsandwith the nter-pretation of what men have doneand said,after the mannerofThucydidesand of mostwriters classifiedn librariesas ,,histori-

ans"l it is also concemedwith the doctrines,communities. ndfantasiesmen haveconstructed nd with the methods hey haveemployed n those onstructions.he ideasmenhaveusedo inter-pret and to alrer facts become hemselvesacts n history. Theideas

_ofhistorians, oets,prophets, cientists, ndphilosophers,o

less han he deasofstaresmen nd he deasattributed o peoples,are datafor history. History and rhetoric, viewed

",.".hrriqo"r,

havea double elation n the treatmentoffacts and heplanningofaction: hepast actsof history area guide o futureacti,on,

"nirh.resentattitudesoftimes andofpeoplesdeterminehe interpreta-

I ron

Introductian

tion of history and he past.History and philosophyhave ikewise a

double relation when they are viewed as echniques: every formula-

tion of history is guidedby basic deaswhich may be expressedn a

philosophy ofhistory; every philosophy s developed nd set forth

in a context of other philosophieswhich may be related in a history

of philosophy.

Ideasare transformed when they are stated as historical events n

a historical context. The significance and the truth of a doctrine

depend on its proof and verification; when ideas are viewed in the

circumstances of their occurrence and the influences that contrib-

uted to their formation, they are facts and events to which truth or

falsity are relevant only indirectly and accidentally. Yet we usually

treat ideas "historically" rather than intellectually, and we seldom

note the transformation we work on them. Only rarely do we re-

state the presuppositionson which a doctrine other than our own is

basedor examine he evidence hat is advanced o support it and the

data to which it is applied. Our usual procedure is to state other

men's theories and doctrines in the context and on the presupposi-

tions of our own, to s how the irrelevanceof their arguments o ourprinciples, he nadequacy ftheir conclusions o our data,and hen

to account for the peculiarities ofthe doctrine by the circumstances

interests,or prejudicesofits author, or his times,his nation,people

or class.The influenceof philosophieson history, conversely,de-

termines the relevant data and the taxonomy or causal relations

which are soughtamongdata.When historiesdependon dialectica

presuppositions,hey tend to be epochaland o trace the spirit, cli-

mate, or character of times and peoples n the manner of Herodotus,

Augustine, Hegel, Marx, Spengler,or Tolmbee. When histories

dependon the causes reated in some particular scienceor branch of

knowledge-such as politics, economics, ociology,or the militaryart-they tend to trace a causal ine of progress or decline that cuts

acrossdistinctions of periods and ages n the manner of Poly bius,

Gibbon, Buckle, or Henry Adams. When histories concenrrateon

the actions of outstanding men or peoples, they tend to be ex-

emplary narratives presented for imitation or avoidance in the

I rz



Thought, Actian, and Passion

mannerof Plutarch, Machiavelli, or Carlyle. Finally, when his-

tories are concemedwith problemsand with the doctrineswhichmen evolved n the solutionof problems, hey tend to be discipli-

nary n the manner f Diogenes aenius,Prantl,andUeberweg, n

the historyofphilosophy nd ogic,or oflike historians fthe sci-

ences,he afts, and iterature.

The techniques f philosophyand history are focused, n the

essay n "Tiuth and he History of Ideas,"not on the arge hemeoffact or eemtor reality,which might be used o explore he dataor

irreduciblematerials n which history, science, ction,andaft are

employed, ut rather on the themeof truth, n which men ustify in

varying ways what they say n varying situationsby referenceo

what they conceiveo be the relevantand compelling acts.Plato

treated he history of his predecessorsialecticallyand concen

trated thereforeon what hasbeen aken o be the spirit and the

significance f their philosophies;Aristotle treated he history ofhis predecessorsroblematically nd concentratedn the detailsof

the doctrines hey developedo resolvepanicularproblems.Plato

andAristotle both reatedhistory n the nterestofphilosophy,andthere s good easono doubt he accuracyoftheir presentation f

either he spirit or the doctrinesas hey weredeveloped nd with-

out referenceo Plato'sor Aristotle'sphilosophy.Yet ater histori-

ans,working ashistorians ather than as philosophers, avebeen

dependentargelyon heir testimonyandhavecomposedhe history

of Greek philosophy rior to them by mingling he two in.propor-

tions andaccording o criteria suppliedby the philosophies fsuc-

cessive istorians.Plato and Aristotle choose, n accordance ith

their respective hilosophies,he faas they report concerning ar-lier philosophy: hey concentrate ttentionon different philoso-

phers,on different deasofthe same hilosophers,ndon different

interpretations f the same deas; he relations hey revealamong

the ideasof any onephilosopher r any groupofphilosophers redifferent; and hey differ evenon the questionofthe beginning f

philosophy,Plato finding t in Greek thought,Aristotle extendinghis inquiries o the barbarians. ut if their philosophical ssump

I18n

Introduction

tions determine the facts available to later historians, their philoso-

phies likewise become facts in a context of other facts and with

scant emnantsofproofor verification,when the history ofphiloso-

phy is extended o include them and to passbeyond them to their

successors.

The themetreated in the third essay sJreedom; he technique by

which it is developed s rhetoric,but the rhetoric is that ofspeeches

used in a history to reconstruct the conditions and intentions that

moved men to action. As the subiect of the first essay s the theme

of love presentedphilosophically or poetic Purposes, nd as the

subiectofthe secondessay s the theme oftruth presented istori-

cally for philosophicpurposes, o he themeoffreedom is presente

in the third essay n the rhetorical development fPericles' Funeral

Oration, and of the opposedspeeches y which it is framed' for the

historical purpose of setting what men thought against he back-

ground of the causes hat led them into conflict. The problems in-

volved in the resulting juxtapositions are not problems of the theo-

retic interrelations ofthemes and echniques n anorganic philosophy

in which all things may be thought to be interdependent,all sciencesunified, and all methods one, f being s distinguished rom becoming,

and knowledge from opinion; they are problems of the practical in-

terrelations of knowledge applied to particulars and knowledge used

in action, if knowledge is applied to the conditions of men and used

to influence their motives. Thucydides had a theory by which he

combined history and rhetoric in order to relate, in the treatment of

practical problems, knowledge applied to particulars historically

and knowledge used n action rhetorically. His history is an effort

to presentboth the immediatecauses nd he real ssues f the war'

The immediate causesare what men thought and said, and they are

expressed rhetorically in the speecheswhich Thucydides repro-

ducesand reconstructs, while the real issuesemerge n the circum-

stances and relations of the opposed powers which become in-

separablymingled with what men think the issues o be. But if

rhetoric is employed to construct the particular knowledge which

constituteshistor/, the purposeofthe history is to contribute to the

I rsn



Thought, Action, and Passian

practical knowledge employed in plans for action which is set forth

by rhetoric. Thucydides hoped hat, ifhe succeeded n exposing he

real cause of the war , exact knowledge of the past might facilitate

the interpretation of the future and the discussion of possible

coursesof action.

These two interrelated problems-the historical determination

of what happenedand why and the practical determination of what

should be done and how-have led to the use of many other meth-

ods, some similar, others in radical opposition, to those developed

by Thucydides. To bring out the character of the techniques of

rhetoric and history that underlie those opposedmethods, he prob-

lems of historical knowledge and practical action are focused n the

essay on "Freedom and Disputation," not on the large themes of

human beha,uior r society,which might be used to bring fact and

belief, motivation and persuasion o bear on one another, but on the

theme of freedmn, which men of different persuasionshave long

conceived o be the condition and the end of human action. The his-

torical development of doctrines expressing the theme of freedorn

runs a course almost directly contrary to the historical developmentof doctrines of love All the varieties of love and all their applica-

tions are ntelligible today, but apart from the conception oflove de-

veloped and applied in psychology and psychiatry they have little

effective application in the analysis and planning of our individual

or social actions, and the term is not used without hesitation in most

of its meanings.The doctrines of freedom-the definitions and ap-

plications which the theme has received n historical evolution after

the Greek phase-have undergone almost total transformation in

their actual and possible applications; but, whereas a modern

speaker or writer would feel embarrassment n repeating the theme

of any except the satiric speeches f Plato's Symposium,he can and

does repeat the theme of Pericles' Funeral Oration in almost unal-

tered form and details of express ion. In their historical develop-

ment as themes,freedom and truth have come frequently into con-

tact with each other; and, n the optimistic philosophiesof dialec-

ticians, truth leads nevitably to freedom (since reedom is action in

Izon

Introduction

accordancewith wisdom), while, in the philosophies f progressof

logistic philosophers, reedom s a necessary ondition for the dis-

covery of truth (since reedom is action in accordancewith the laws

of one's own natu re). Yet the two histories exhibit the basic dif-

ferences that separateknowledge and action: the development of

knowledge has consisted n the multiplication of truths that men

can verify and the extension of the methodsof inquiry and verifica-

tion to the problemsof all aspects f human ife, and the discovery

oflater truths has ed both to the abandonment fearlier doctrines

and to the discovery ofinterrelations and interdependences mong

the branchesof knowledge; the development of human relationshas

consisted n the multiplication of freedoms hat men can ustify and

to the extensionof freedoms, n principle and promulgation, o all

men without distinction or restriction of any kind, and the recogni-

tion of iater rights-economic, social,and cultural-has not neces-

sitated he abrogationof rights earlier recognized-political, civil,

and religious-yet the question of the priority of the earlier or rhe

later freedoms s one that separatesSoviet philosophers and states-

men from those of the West, and the extension of freedoms to allmankind has proceededby dividing and opposingmen in parties,

sects, aces,nations, and peoples or the vindication of some ree-

doms for some men.

Greek conceptions of freedom divided men into freemen and

slaves. Even those Greeks who formed an idea of the brotherhood

and equality of all men found no plausible or effective means in

their civiliz ation of attacking the institution of slavery or the con-

viction of Greeks that Hellenes were fundamentally different from

barbarians. The Greek development of the theme did include the

doctrine that freedom is a "right" basedon the nature of man and

on the law of nature. Men had to wait until the eighteenthcentury

for the development of the concept of a Bill of Rights which enumer-

ates the forms of freedom and charges responsible governmenrs

with providing guaranties against their violation. The develop-

ments of the next two centuries vastly increased the number of

rights or freedoms and the spread of their application without dis-

Izrn



Thoaght, Action, and Passton

crimination basedon race, previous status, religion, sex, or nation-

ality. Yet these differences of circumstance, doctrine, definition,

and application do not affect the applications that can be given to

Pericles'expositionofthe ideal offreedom and ts problems.Today,

rhetoric is being re-employed and history is being repeated n the

development of the theme of freedom. Part of the world has at-

tached itself to the Athenian ideal of freedom; part of the world

views that development of the theme with the suspicionsexpressedby the Corinthians, who thought it a deceptive cloak for the inter-

ests and aggressionsofthe rich and the powerful. Yet in both inter-

changesoffear and suspicion, ancient andmodern, both versionsof

the theme had been united, only a short time before, in the defense

of freedom against a common tyrannical danger. The opposed no-

tions led ultimately, in the ancient development, to a war from

which Greek political forms and cultural life and civilization never

fully recovered. In the retrospect of over two thousand years the

war, which found its "immediate causes" n what men said and did,

was clearly a tragedy in which the "real" issuesdid not justify the

extremes to which men were carried, and they were not resolved bythe actions men took.

The theme treated in the final essay s imitation; t is a theme used

to explain the techniquesof poetry, but if art is viewed as itself an

object of imitation rather than as an imitation of nature, all human

arts and all human activities are guided by criteria of imitation em-

ployed by techniquesdeveloped n rhetoric.Like love, imitation is a

theme that can be applied to all human actions. l,ove is attachment

in action to something valued; imitation is action designed o em-

body or produce a value. Differences in loves and n theories oflove

are due to differences in the obiects of love; differences in imita-

tions and in theories of imitation are due to differences in the ob-

jects of imitation. The different loves and imitations are assimi-

lated to philosophy and distinguished rom eachother in the dialec-

tic of Plato. Love is a madnesswhich may turn man to the vision of

the Good and the Beautiful or to the pursuit of pleasure----and o-

etry and rhetoric, which may be dangerous and immoral instru-

[ .zz\

Introduction

ments, assume heir perfect forms as dialectic and philosophy. Imi-

tation is the processby which all things are made, rom the creation

of the cosmosby the demiurge imitating eternal forms to the imita-

tion of an imitation in which a poet imitates a lie in the soul--and

the errors ofpoetry are corrected by knowledge in philosophy and

by persuasionand force in laws. The analogiesand ambiguities of

love and mitation are reduced n the "scientific" analysesof Aris-

totle's philosophy. Love becomes a passion treated in psychology

and exploited in rhetoric, with only analogical extensionsand in-

direct uses n morals, politics, and poetry. Imitation becomes he

processby which the arts are distinguished from the theoretic and

practical sciences.After Aristotle, love, even in its analogical ex-

tensions n theory, practice, and art, tends to be only one ofthe pas-

sions defined by its object; and imitation, even n its literal restric-

tion to art, tends to be, not the processes fart copying and extend-

ing nature, but the devices of artists copying artists, in which po-

etry, history, science, and philosophy are all alike arts, and Poetry

with its more supple and delicate means of imitation attains to

higher truths than scienceor philosophy or at least to a higher ex-pression of the same truths. The modern doctrines in which both

themes are expressed end to conceal hem by recourse o their con-

traries. Love has allen out ofthe central place which Socratesgave

it in philosophy except as t is reflected or implied by the contraries

found for it in particular doctrines-hate, anxiety, fear. Imitation is

a theme which has fallen from the central place in the aestheticsof

poetry except n its negation by one of its doctrinal contraries-cre-

ation, expression, communication. As the consideration of the

theme of love serves to recall, among other things, that there are

philosophies which deny the distinctions, which other philosophies

labor to construct, between knowing, doing, and making, betweenscience,practice, and art, between cognitive, persuasive,and emo-

tive, so too the theme of imitation serves to bring to attention

forms of literature and poetry that are composedon the assumption

that the true, the good, and the beautiful are not, and cannot be,

separated.

Iz l ]



Thought, Aetian, and Passion

Therearephilosophies hoseexposition ouldnot easilybe con

fusedwith the development f a poemor theplot of a novel.There

are novelswhich could be differentiatedrom histories and ndee

their authorsoften call them "histories" in the courseof their fic-

tions) only by determiningwhetheror not their characters verex-

istedor performedheactions arrated. herearephilosophersike

Plato, Lucretius, Dante, Rousseau, ierkegaard,Nietzsche,and

Santayana hosemodeof expressions poetic, aphoristic,or lit-erary andphilosophersike Hume andSartrewho use comparab

techniqueso developcomparablehemessuccessivelyn philoso

phy andhistory or in philosophy, iction,and drama.The novelsof

Fielding,Balzac, r Hemingwaypresentactions; he developme

of characterss appropriete o the actionandmakes t plausible

what hecharactershink andsay s appropriateo the charactersn

their situations;whateverphilosophys expressedn the courseof

the narrative s easily dentifiedas he thought of one of the char

actersor of theauthor.The novelsof Rabelais,Melville, Dickens

James,Dostoevski,Kafka, Joyce,on he contrary,presentacdon

that emergento literal focus rom the complexities f characterthought,and anguage; nd he connections hich hey develop,ar

from beingdetermined y eventsn timeandspace, upplantiteral

factsandgive hemmeaningwhen hey emerge.t wouldbe dle to

ask whetherEveryman,or Christian,who representhe character

isticsof all men or all men of faith, is moreor lessabstract han

Tamberlane, r TomJones, r CousinPons,whosecharacters re

basedon the development f one humanquality. The character

that Christian encountersn his pilgrim's progressare likewise

motivatedby simple raits, and oundedcharacters re sometime

formedon the modelof the complexitiesof actualcharacters y

placingadominant haracteristicn a varietyof circumstancesr bya necessityand probability suggested y poetic or ideal models

The world of CaptainAhab s no ess eal han he world of Claris-

saHarlowe,but t is a world in whichevents remergedwith idea

and n whichpuzzled ritics ry to find theirbearings y identifying

the compulsion r ideal symbolizedby the white whale. Literal

[ .2+\

Introductian

narratives separate he real from the illusory, but it is no less egiti-

mate or effective, as truth and as art, to recognize the relativities of

the processeseported and to leave the resolution of the issue of

fact and fancy, as Dostoevski does, n the balanceofcharacters who

interpret, oppose their interpretation to that of other characters

whom they interpret, then doubt and change their interpretations,

and n which illusion may easily be truth or truth illusion. The sym-

bolism of the world may be reflected in the symbols the aftist uses,

asBunyan and Kafka built their worlds in dreams,or as he nervous

sentencestructure ofJames conveys and justifies statesofmind and

attitude, or as the learned puns and buried levels ofsymbolic struc-

ture ofJoyce suggest he inexhaustibly ich contentofdaily and ap-

parently trivial action. There are forms of anistic expressionwhich

have no univocal literal interpretation and which cannot be trans-

lated into emotional responses ndependent ofthought or unrelated

to action; and, what is even more important, the methods of inter-

pretation and criticism that are adapted o such works apply no less

effectively to works that have a literal meaning and an emotive pur-

pose and make them bearers of truth and causesof action.The techniquesofooetry and rhetoric are focused n the essayon

"Imitation and Poetry," not on the large themes of necessity r

beduty,which might be used to mark the basic principles in which

knowledge, action, and art are ioined, but rather on the theme of

imitation, which provides one of the lines of continuity in efforts to

explain the nature of aft, action, and knowledge, including the arts

ofscience, philosophy, and life, and the sciencesofhistory, art, and

practical action. For Plato, imitation is a broad concept-things,

ideas, and virtues as well as poetry are imitations. For Aristotle it

is a narrow concept, imited to art and used o distinguish the natural

basesofa poem or any other artificial object from the natural basesof a virtue or a science.Plato used he concept of imitation to relate

theory, practice, and art. Aristotle used the same concept to dis-

tinguish aft from knowledge and action. Yet for both, what was imi-

tated was nature or reality. In the concepts developed ater in the

evolution of the theme, imitation changed its meanings with the

Izsn



Thought, Actian, and Passton

changen the objectof imitation: writers wereenioined o imitate

the geniusof other writers or the art evident n their works or to

adaptgreator common hemes o appropriate anguage ewly de-

visedor borrowed rom commonanguage. he applications f imi-

tation move rom art to practice aswhen Machiavelliexpounds is

new methodof basing olitical actionon heemulation f greatmen

or greatpeoples, r Hobbesbases isnew science fthe stateon he

assumptionhat the commonwealthmitates he art of God) and otheory (aswhen scientistsesort o the construction f models, r

dialecticalmaterialists ndoperationalistseek he test oftheory in

the reproduction r control ofnatural processes,n what Aristotle

would have called the use of art to imitate and extendnatural

processes).

The inquiriesof men concerning he things that surround hem

and he dialogue n which they communicate ith eachother are

guidedand nfluenced y themes. he termsandconceptsn which

those themesare expressed re ambiguous, nd the relationsof

termsandconceptso oneanothern the developmentr expressio

of the themealter and change. he thememay for a time bring to-gether n one conceptmany related deasand data,and then the

unity may breakand heconnectionse ost.The thememay for a

time set up basic distinctionswhich, with changes f definitions,

are abandoned s unwarranted ichotomies ndabstractions,epa-

rating acts nto partswithout basis n reality. The thememay or a

time take he form of a concept r theory hat s applied o facts o

which it later seemsrrelevant.Changesn conceptsollowing the

developmentf a single hememayaffect he elations mongdeas,

the meanings findividual ideas,and he factsaccepted s elevanr

or warrantedas eal. Inquiry anddiscussion re affected nddeter-

mined,not only by thesechanges, ut also by the relationsamong

the themesand the techniques. he four techniques nd the four

themes y which these nterrelations re explored n the following

essays re sometimessed o distinguish ndseparateieldsandac-

tivities. Philosophy r sciencehenemploys scientificmethodor a

logic in the determination nd statement f truth; poerryemploys

Izon

Introduction

figurative anguageo depictand o arouse morions,ncluding heemotionof love; history is consrructed f singula,p.opori-tiowhich designater imitate ndividual hings,evenrs,

"nJth.i, inte.-

connecions; ractical roposirions sea rhetoricalor persuasimodeof discourseo stir men o actionor to tum them romactionthey had contemplated.Or, on the other hand, ruth, insteadofbeingdistinguishedrom the factsofhistory, the construdions fpoetrlr or the operations f practicalaction,may be dentifiedwithany oneof them,or all four may beconceivedo be he same;and,in that reduction, nyoneof the our-trurh, love, reedom, r imi-tation-may takeprecedence.

similarly methodsmay bedistinguished ccordingo their prin-ciples, urposes,nddata:historymay be conceived

",, ,n.,hod

bl which o reproducendividualhappeningsn their individuality;rhetoricmay be conceived sa methodby which a speakernflu-ences n audience y starting rom ts preconceptionsndattitudes;logic, dialectic,or the scientificmethod*"y b. conceived s amethodby which theories re ormed o accountor regularities r

recurrencesn a groupofphenomena,o relate hem Jother regu_larities n systems f laws,and o deriveconsequencesn applicattnandprediction;poeffy may beconceivedo bea methodolcr."tinganobjectof art whoseunity is not the same s he acts o which iis relatedbut s createdby theartist andappropriateo hismediumandwhoseeffectsare nor practicalactions nducedby playingonprejudice ndpreconception ut aesthetic ontemplation

"njpurg"_

tion of passions nd heir impulsionso action.Or, in torn,"r.h-ofhemethodsmay borrow fromtheorhers:philosophic ndscientific

methods reoften reatedasarts, reducedo history,or adaptedorhetoricaldevices fdiscovery; poeuy is often reatedasa vehicle

of truths,an nstrumentof socialcontiol or change, r a methodofrecourtinghistory; practical devicesof agreement r persuasionare-often oughtn a campaign f truth, n adherencendconformityto facs, or in poeticadornments; istoryhasbecome dialecticanda science, n art and an nstrument or practicalaction.

The influence f Athenson the curtuieof the west hasbeen et

[ .27




forth in poetry hat celebrateshe glory of Greecewhile imitating

its themes,meters,and orms; it hasbeen raced n histories hat

follow the development f influences, istinguishstages, eriods

epochs,and cultures, set fofth the exampleof Greek heroes

geniuses, nd nstitutions,or expoundhe formulations f problem

and he nventions f hypotheseso solve hem,whileemployinghe

historicalmethods riginatedby the Greeksand he historicaldata

assembledn their histories; t has beenexplainedn philosophie

that acknowledgehe influence r refute heerrorsof Plato,Aris-

totle, Democritus, r the Sophists;t hasbeen llustratedor advo

cated n practicalaction andstatementhat pursuedealsdreame

of by Greek sages, oets,andpoliticiansn circumstances,ith in-

struments, ndby institutionswhich the Greeksdid not imagine

But all these tatements ndactions repart ofthe dialogue nd he

inquiry n which he themes f theGreeksassumemany definition

and heir techniquesakeon many orms. n a significant ensehe

real influences in themesand echniques hich eludeand excee

literal restatement. he influence f Greek philosophys not found

in literal fidelity to doctrinesor methods venby thosewho haveprofessedo follow the positionsor to use he methods f Greek

philosophers;t is found rather n the living influenceof Greek

themes nd echniqueshat is encounteredven n the modificatio

of conceptsand the transformationof methodsby menwho know

Greekphilosophy nly indirectly n doctrines ndproofs nfluence

by ancientphilosophyandwho often rediscover ncientdoctrine

when hey refutewhat they conceivedo be he doctrineof Plato,

Aristotle, or Democritus.The influenceof Greek poetry is not

found n literal imitationof Greek epic, ragedy,comedy,pastoral

or ode; t is found ather n the nspirationby which poetic heme

andpoeticdevices ave ed o the creation fotherforms or the

useof othermaterials o attain ike poeticends.The influence f Greek

practical dealsandhuman elationss found,not in the survivalof

Greekpolitical,social, r economicnstitutions, ut n theadaptabil

ity to changing ircumstancesf idealswhich heGreeksexpresse

and modesof communicationwhich they usedand in forms of

Ize]

Introduction

homogeneity that haveemerged n the Westem world asa result of

the experiencesand the expressionsof the ancient Greeks. History,

finally, hascontinued o discovercharacteristicperiods, causal ines,

exemplary models,and developments n the arts anddisciplines; yet

the influence of Greek history is found in no one statementof sub-

sequenteventsas continuationsofthose which the Greeks recorded

but rather in the aid which their insights and hypotheseshave af-

forded to each succeedingage in rewriting history to the require-

ments and aspirations of later times, different places, and strange

people.

[2e

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