Testimonia

{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>To illustrate briefly what he means, I must begin with his\r\nown introductory statement in the above-mentioned book,\r\nthat there are four things which men desire, as it were by\r\nnature without a master, without the help of any instruction,\r\nwithout industry or the art of living which is called virtue,\r\nand which is certainly learned:<a id=\"FNanchor_620_620\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_620_620\">[620]</a> either pleasure, which is\r\nan agreeable stirring of the bodily sense; or repose, which\r\nexcludes every bodily inconvenience; or both these, which\r\nEpicurus calls by the one name, pleasure; or the primary\r\nobjects of nature,<a id=\"FNanchor_621_621\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_621_621\">[621]</a> which comprehend the things already named\r\nand other things, either bodily, such as health, and safety, and\r\nintegrity of the members, or spiritual, such as the greater and\r\nless mental gifts that are found in men. Now these four\r\nthings—pleasure, repose, the two combined, and the primary\r\nobjects of nature—exist in us in such sort that we must either\r\ndesire virtue on their account, or them for the sake of virtue,\r\nor both for their own sake; and consequently there arise from\r\nthis distinction twelve sects, for each is by this consideration\r\ntripled. I will illustrate this in one instance, and, having\r\ndone so, it will not be difficult to understand the others.\r\nAccording, then, as bodily pleasure is subjected, preferred, or\r\nunited to virtue, there are three sects. It is subjected to\r\nvirtue when it is chosen as subservient to virtue. Thus it is<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_295\">[Pg 295]</a></span>\r\na duty of virtue to live for one's country, and for its sake to\r\nbeget children, neither of which can be done without bodily\r\npleasure. For there is pleasure in eating and drinking, pleasure\r\nalso in sexual intercourse. But when it is preferred to\r\nvirtue, it is desired for its own sake, and virtue is chosen only\r\nfor its sake, and to effect nothing else than the attainment or\r\npreservation of bodily pleasure. And this, indeed, is to make\r\nlife hideous; for where virtue is the slave of pleasure it no\r\nlonger deserves the name of virtue. Yet even this disgraceful\r\ndistortion has found some philosophers to patronize and\r\ndefend it. Then virtue is united to pleasure when neither is\r\ndesired for the other's sake, but both for their own. And\r\ntherefore, as pleasure, according as it is subjected, preferred, or\r\nunited to virtue, makes three sects, so also do repose, pleasure\r\nand repose combined, and the prime natural blessings,\r\nmake their three sects each. For as men's opinions vary, and\r\nthese four things are sometimes subjected, sometimes preferred,\r\nand sometimes united to virtue, there are produced twelve\r\nsects. But this number again is doubled by the addition of\r\none difference, viz. the social life; for whoever attaches himself\r\nto any of these sects does so either for his own sake alone,\r\nor for the sake of a companion, for whom he ought to wish\r\nwhat he desires for himself. And thus there will be twelve\r\nof those who think some one of these opinions should be held\r\nfor their own sakes, and other twelve who decide that they\r\nought to follow this or that philosophy not for their own sakes\r\nonly, but also for the sake of others whose good they desire as\r\ntheir own. These twenty-four sects again are doubled, and\r\nbecome forty-eight by adding a difference taken from the New\r\nAcademy. For each of these four and twenty sects can hold\r\nand defend their opinion as certain, as the Stoics defended the\r\nposition that the supreme good of man consisted solely in\r\nvirtue; or they can be held as probable, but not certain, as\r\nthe New Academics did. There are, therefore, twenty-four\r\nwho hold their philosophy as certainly true, other twenty-four\r\nwho hold their opinions as probable, but not certain.\r\nAgain, as each person who attaches himself to any of these\r\nsects may adopt the mode of life either of the Cynics or of\r\nthe other philosophers, this distinction will double the number,<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_296\">[Pg 296]</a></span>\r\nand so make ninety-six sects. Then, lastly, as each of these\r\nsects may be adhered to either by men who love a life of ease,\r\nas those who have through choice or necessity addicted themselves\r\nto study, or by men who love a busy life, as those who,\r\nwhile philosophizing, have been much occupied with state\r\naffairs and public business, or by men who choose a mixed life,\r\nin imitation of those who have apportioned their time partly\r\nto erudite leisure, partly to necessary business: by these differences\r\nthe number of the sects is tripled, and becomes 288.</p>","headings":["THE CITY OF GOD.","BOOK NINETEENTH.","ARGUMENT."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45305-paragraph-488"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"b30cf02a3120478fff39429915e8e3e32a38a5916408bc649ad0c00c21beac5f","edition_title":"The City of God, Volume II","edition_translators":["Marcus Dods","George Wilson (Books XVII-XVIII)"],"edition_year":1871,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg45305-Footnote_620_620","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Original transcription title leaves state T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1871; printed translator allocation retained. Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_620_620","source_ebook":45305,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_620_620\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_620_620\"><span class=\"label\">[620]</span></a> Alluding to the vexed question whether virtue could be taught.</p></div>","source_sha256":"7e0ced9e70512f3cf050b53c9d548e36b70d468d875153869f95d8aff5bbb530","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45305/pg45305-images.html#Footnote_620_620","text_sha256":"0919e49ddee490b046596ea800df3901a8b1ac6f61ce45525d5c711ac9986071","verified":false,"work_id":null}

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