Another blind man checking in here, as well. These are very good questions.
No clue at what the "common conceptions" hold specifically, but circling back to the above (specifically, habituated to foolish beliefs), I have often wondered if this is not a slap against Christians. I believe it was Celsus who first identified the tendency for Christians to target children and so-called simple-minded folk. Sallustius was writing this, as I understand it, as a sort of "catechism" for pagans, as it were, in a time of increasing encroachment by Christianity. So Celsus's words are always in the back of my mind here.
Alternately, I assume he just means to have a grounding in philosophy, by which I further assume he means Platonic philosophy.
A final thought...perhaps he just means those conceptions which he lists in the subsequent sentences, regarding "The Good" and the unchanging nature of god, etc. An idea of what these might cover can be found in Proclus's Elements of Theology.
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Date: 2021-11-03 06:27 pm (UTC)No clue at what the "common conceptions" hold specifically, but circling back to the above (specifically, habituated to foolish beliefs), I have often wondered if this is not a slap against Christians. I believe it was Celsus who first identified the tendency for Christians to target children and so-called simple-minded folk. Sallustius was writing this, as I understand it, as a sort of "catechism" for pagans, as it were, in a time of increasing encroachment by Christianity. So Celsus's words are always in the back of my mind here.
Alternately, I assume he just means to have a grounding in philosophy, by which I further assume he means Platonic philosophy.
A final thought...perhaps he just means those conceptions which he lists in the subsequent sentences, regarding "The Good" and the unchanging nature of god, etc. An idea of what these might cover can be found in Proclus's Elements of Theology.
Just some random thoughts from another student.
Axé