They ought also to know the Common Conceptions. Common Conceptions are those to which all men agree as soon as they are asked;
Sallustius seems to me to be, here, talking about axioms. If we can’t agree upon our axioms, then how can we even converse? So we must necessarily have some axiomatic foundation upon which we may construct an edifice of conclusions reaching—hopefully, if the title of the work is to be believed!—up to the gods.
Logically, this is sound enough; but the notion that there are any things that everyone can agree upon strikes me as rather quaint! Was there ever such a time that such was the case? In the world I live in, people can’t event seem to agree to disagree!
What kinds of things did the philosophers, or indeed the mass of humanity, take in those days to be certainly true? Sallustius assumes a relatively nuanced notion about the gods to be common, and yet in our day we can’t even seem to agree on the existence of spiritual beings at all, let alone their nature...
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Date: 2021-11-03 12:58 pm (UTC)Sallustius seems to me to be, here, talking about axioms. If we can’t agree upon our axioms, then how can we even converse? So we must necessarily have some axiomatic foundation upon which we may construct an edifice of conclusions reaching—hopefully, if the title of the work is to be believed!—up to the gods.
Logically, this is sound enough; but the notion that there are any things that everyone can agree upon strikes me as rather quaint! Was there ever such a time that such was the case? In the world I live in, people can’t event seem to agree to disagree!
What kinds of things did the philosophers, or indeed the mass of humanity, take in those days to be certainly true? Sallustius assumes a relatively nuanced notion about the gods to be common, and yet in our day we can’t even seem to agree on the existence of spiritual beings at all, let alone their nature...