e mërkurë, 12 shtator 2007

It must not be overlooked, however, that the Roman race was



never a pure race
It must not be overlooked, however, that the Roman race was
never a pure race. It was a union of strong elements of
frontier democratic peoples, Sabines, Umbrians, Sicilians,
Etruscans, Greeks, being blended in republican Rome. Whatever
the origins, the worst outlived the best, mingling at last with
the odds and ends of Imperial slavery, the 'Sewage of Races'
('cloaca gentium') left at the Fall.




MEMORY MUST BE SPECIALIZED



MEMORY MUST BE SPECIALIZED.--And not only must memory, if it is to be a
good memory, omit the generally worthless, or trivial, or irrelevant,
and supply the generally useful, significant, and relevant, but it must
in some degree be a _specialized memory_. It must minister to the
particular needs and requirements of its owner. Small consolation to you
if you are a Latin teacher, and are able to call up the binomial theorem
or the date of the fall of Constantinople when you are in dire need of a
conjugation or a declension which eludes you. It is much better for the
merchant and politician to have a good memory for names and faces than
to be able to repeat the succession of English monarchs from Alfred the
Great to Edward VII and not be able to tell John Smith from Tom Brown.
It is much more desirable for the lawyer to be able to remember the
necessary details of his case than to be able to recall all the various
athletic records of the year; and so on.




Reid illustrates his positions against Hume to a length unnecessary to



follow
Reid illustrates his positions against Hume to a length unnecessary to
follow. The objections are exclusively and effectively aimed at the two
unguarded points of the Utility system as propounded by Hume; namely,
first, the not recognizing moral rules as established and enforced
among men by the dictation of authority, which does not leave to
individuals the power of reference to ultimate ends; and, secondly, the
not distinguishing between obligatory, and non-obligatory, useful acts.




A yet higher view of self-interest informs us, that by performing all



our obligations to our fellows, we not only attain reciprocal
performance, but generate mutual affections and sympathies, which
greatly augment the happiness of life
A yet higher view of self-interest informs us, that by performing all
our obligations to our fellows, we not only attain reciprocal
performance, but generate mutual affections and sympathies, which
greatly augment the happiness of life.