Aristotle was right, observed Pliny the Elder. It is good to preserve the unities of action, time and space.
These are postmodern times I replied. I suppose you are referring to the orang-utan.
Yes, he answered. You did not go to the zoo.
It was the best thing that happened that day, I countered. And I saw it on the news.
That would cut no mustard with Aristotle, said Pliny.
Did you know him? I asked.
Not until after the volcano, said Pliny. But then we became quite good friends. He was about 350 years older than me. He was said to be the last man to know everything that was currently known about everything.
Really, I said. That is pretty amazing.
Yes, he said, but untrue. He once wrote that men had more teeth than women. Something very easy to disprove. But on the whole his ideas are much to be admired. He singlehandedly invented logic, did you know?
No, I didn't. I would very much like to meet him, but I suppose that's out of the question.
Not at all. I will invite him round to dinner if you wish.
Perfect! A fig for the unities! Do you think he might be partial to moussaka?
Showing posts with label Aristotle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aristotle. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Moby Dick
Did you know that you get a mention in Moby Dick? I asked Pliny.
No, he said, and who is Moby Dick?
It's a famous book by Herman Melville I replied, about a fearsome white whale, and Captain Ahab, who is obsessed with killing it. I'm re-reading it. In the chapter called Cetology he lists all the men small and great, old and new, landsmen and seamen who have written about the whale, and you are third on the list.
Third? After whom?
The Authors of the Bible, and Aristotle.
Hmmmm. I do not think much of the Bible. But to Aristotle I am pleased to defer. Am I quoted by your Melville?
Not directly, but he agrees with you that the whale is a type of fish.
Great Jupiter! I am vindicated. Does he say why he thinks so?
Yes, he says it all depends upon the definition. Linnaeus's opinion that the whale is not a fish because of its warm bilocular heart, its lungs, its moveable eyelids, hollow ears and mammalian qualities, he dismisses as insufficiently reasoned humbug. The correct definition for a whale, he claims, is a spouting fish with a horizontal tail.
Pliny beamed. And does he list all the different kinds of whales? he asked.
He does. And later chapters are called "Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales", " Of the Less Erroneous Pictures of Whales" , and " Of Whales in Paint, in Teeth, in Wood, in Sheet-Iron, in Stone, in Mountains, in Stars".
This book, said Pliny rapturously, must be a truly wonderful account of whales. May I read it after you?
Yes, I said, if you promise not to read page 470.
No, he said, and who is Moby Dick?
It's a famous book by Herman Melville I replied, about a fearsome white whale, and Captain Ahab, who is obsessed with killing it. I'm re-reading it. In the chapter called Cetology he lists all the men small and great, old and new, landsmen and seamen who have written about the whale, and you are third on the list.
Third? After whom?
The Authors of the Bible, and Aristotle.
Hmmmm. I do not think much of the Bible. But to Aristotle I am pleased to defer. Am I quoted by your Melville?
Not directly, but he agrees with you that the whale is a type of fish.
Great Jupiter! I am vindicated. Does he say why he thinks so?
Yes, he says it all depends upon the definition. Linnaeus's opinion that the whale is not a fish because of its warm bilocular heart, its lungs, its moveable eyelids, hollow ears and mammalian qualities, he dismisses as insufficiently reasoned humbug. The correct definition for a whale, he claims, is a spouting fish with a horizontal tail.
Pliny beamed. And does he list all the different kinds of whales? he asked.
He does. And later chapters are called "Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales", " Of the Less Erroneous Pictures of Whales" , and " Of Whales in Paint, in Teeth, in Wood, in Sheet-Iron, in Stone, in Mountains, in Stars".
This book, said Pliny rapturously, must be a truly wonderful account of whales. May I read it after you?
Yes, I said, if you promise not to read page 470.
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