Larry R Squire (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195380101
- eISBN:
- 9780199864362
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380101.001.0001
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, History of Neuroscience
This book contains a collection of autobiographical chapters by notable senior scientists who discuss the major events that shaped their discoveries and their influences, as well as the people who ...
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This book contains a collection of autobiographical chapters by notable senior scientists who discuss the major events that shaped their discoveries and their influences, as well as the people who inspired them and helped shape their careers as neuroscientists. Each entry also includes a complete CV so that the book tells the story of their rise through the ranks as they achieved some of the highest honors in neuroscience.Less
This book contains a collection of autobiographical chapters by notable senior scientists who discuss the major events that shaped their discoveries and their influences, as well as the people who inspired them and helped shape their careers as neuroscientists. Each entry also includes a complete CV so that the book tells the story of their rise through the ranks as they achieved some of the highest honors in neuroscience.
Elizabeth Clarke
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198263982
- eISBN:
- 9780191682698
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198263982.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature, Theology
In 17th-century England the poet George Herbert became known as ‘Divine Herbert’, his poetry a model for those aspiring to the status of inspired Christian poet. This book explores the relationship ...
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In 17th-century England the poet George Herbert became known as ‘Divine Herbert’, his poetry a model for those aspiring to the status of inspired Christian poet. This book explores the relationship between the poetry of George Herbert and the concept of divine inspiration rooted in devotional texts of the time. The book considers three very different treatises read and approved by Herbert: Savonarola’s De Simplicitate Christianae Vitae, Juan de Valdes’s The Hundred and Ten Considerations, and Francois de Sales’s Introduction to the Devout Life. These authors all saw literary production as implicit in a theological argument about the workings of the Holy Spirit. The book goes on to offer a new reading of many of Herbert’s poems, concluding that implanted in Herbert’s poetry are many well-established codes which to a 17th-century readership signified divine inspiration.Less
In 17th-century England the poet George Herbert became known as ‘Divine Herbert’, his poetry a model for those aspiring to the status of inspired Christian poet. This book explores the relationship between the poetry of George Herbert and the concept of divine inspiration rooted in devotional texts of the time. The book considers three very different treatises read and approved by Herbert: Savonarola’s De Simplicitate Christianae Vitae, Juan de Valdes’s The Hundred and Ten Considerations, and Francois de Sales’s Introduction to the Devout Life. These authors all saw literary production as implicit in a theological argument about the workings of the Holy Spirit. The book goes on to offer a new reading of many of Herbert’s poems, concluding that implanted in Herbert’s poetry are many well-established codes which to a 17th-century readership signified divine inspiration.
Niels Christian Hvidt
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195314472
- eISBN:
- 9780199785346
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195314472.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
Christian prophecy can only be judged on the backdrop of the theology of revelation. It is possible to consider revelation as a concept of experience with different modes of divine communication: ...
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Christian prophecy can only be judged on the backdrop of the theology of revelation. It is possible to consider revelation as a concept of experience with different modes of divine communication: visions, apparitions, locutions, etc., and where we must compare inspiration and experience. It is also possible to see revelation as a concept of reflection, identifying different models of revelation that lead to different models of prophecy: dogmatic, epiphanic, historical, dialectic, ontological, and personalistic models. From a rather dogmatic model with little room for prophecy, revelation has emerged into a more personalistic concept, where revelation is seen as God's gift of self, calling his people to respond to his truth, often through prophecy.Less
Christian prophecy can only be judged on the backdrop of the theology of revelation. It is possible to consider revelation as a concept of experience with different modes of divine communication: visions, apparitions, locutions, etc., and where we must compare inspiration and experience. It is also possible to see revelation as a concept of reflection, identifying different models of revelation that lead to different models of prophecy: dogmatic, epiphanic, historical, dialectic, ontological, and personalistic models. From a rather dogmatic model with little room for prophecy, revelation has emerged into a more personalistic concept, where revelation is seen as God's gift of self, calling his people to respond to his truth, often through prophecy.
H. A. G. Houghton
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199545926
- eISBN:
- 9780191719974
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545926.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
Augustine's negative first impressions of the Bible were replaced by reverence for the authority of Scripture. He made a clear distinction, however, between divine inspiration and the writers of ...
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Augustine's negative first impressions of the Bible were replaced by reverence for the authority of Scripture. He made a clear distinction, however, between divine inspiration and the writers of biblical books. The role of scriptural citations in his argument is described alongside an assessment of his citation technique. ‘Primary citations’, more likely to be made directly from a codex, are contrasted with ‘secondary citations’, the bulk of which were probably made from memory. Certain types of alteration such as ‘flattening’ and ‘conflation’ are shown to be characteristic of Augustine's ‘mental text’.Less
Augustine's negative first impressions of the Bible were replaced by reverence for the authority of Scripture. He made a clear distinction, however, between divine inspiration and the writers of biblical books. The role of scriptural citations in his argument is described alongside an assessment of his citation technique. ‘Primary citations’, more likely to be made directly from a codex, are contrasted with ‘secondary citations’, the bulk of which were probably made from memory. Certain types of alteration such as ‘flattening’ and ‘conflation’ are shown to be characteristic of Augustine's ‘mental text’.
Deborah Chester
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781784992880
- eISBN:
- 9781526104199
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781784992880.003.0021
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
For every writer that’s an overnight success inspired by a dream and becomes a mega-hit on Kindle, there are numerous writers who follow the slower but sure path of mastering the writing craft, ...
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For every writer that’s an overnight success inspired by a dream and becomes a mega-hit on Kindle, there are numerous writers who follow the slower but sure path of mastering the writing craft, planning and outlining their stories carefully, thinking through their plot and characters, and writing the very best stories they can. Such writers enjoy longevity in the business and continue to do what they love. They know how to rely on technique and sound story principles rather than a fickle muse, and they understand the value of persistence as they make their own luck.Less
For every writer that’s an overnight success inspired by a dream and becomes a mega-hit on Kindle, there are numerous writers who follow the slower but sure path of mastering the writing craft, planning and outlining their stories carefully, thinking through their plot and characters, and writing the very best stories they can. Such writers enjoy longevity in the business and continue to do what they love. They know how to rely on technique and sound story principles rather than a fickle muse, and they understand the value of persistence as they make their own luck.
Michael Bergmann, Michael J. Murray, and Michael C. Rea (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199576739
- eISBN:
- 9780191595165
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576739.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
Numerous critics of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have argued that God, especially in the Hebrew Bible, is often portrayed as morally vicious. For example, historical narratives in these texts ...
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Numerous critics of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have argued that God, especially in the Hebrew Bible, is often portrayed as morally vicious. For example, historical narratives in these texts apparently describe God as ordering or commending genocide, slavery, and rape among other moral atrocities; and other texts seem to portray God as commending bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia. The main chapters in this interdisciplinary volume fall into four groups: (i) the first three press objections by philosophers to the moral character of God as it is represented in the Hebrew Bible; (ii) the next five offer responses by theistic philosophers to such objections; (iii) the next two after that present additional responses from the perspective of specialists in biblical studies; and (iv) the final chapter provides some general reflections on the conference at which these papers were initially presented. Also included in the volume are commentators' remarks on each chapter (except the last), along with replies by the original authors.Less
Numerous critics of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have argued that God, especially in the Hebrew Bible, is often portrayed as morally vicious. For example, historical narratives in these texts apparently describe God as ordering or commending genocide, slavery, and rape among other moral atrocities; and other texts seem to portray God as commending bigotry, misogyny, and homophobia. The main chapters in this interdisciplinary volume fall into four groups: (i) the first three press objections by philosophers to the moral character of God as it is represented in the Hebrew Bible; (ii) the next five offer responses by theistic philosophers to such objections; (iii) the next two after that present additional responses from the perspective of specialists in biblical studies; and (iv) the final chapter provides some general reflections on the conference at which these papers were initially presented. Also included in the volume are commentators' remarks on each chapter (except the last), along with replies by the original authors.
Curley Edwin
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199576739
- eISBN:
- 9780191595165
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576739.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter argues that the moral character of God, as portrayed in the Scriptures he is supposed to have inspired, is a reasonable test of the claim that those Scriptures convey a divine ...
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This chapter argues that the moral character of God, as portrayed in the Scriptures he is supposed to have inspired, is a reasonable test of the claim that those Scriptures convey a divine revelation. The Christian Scriptures (the ‘Old’ Testament and the New) fail the test. They frequently represent God as authorizing bad conduct. He commands child sacrifice and genocide. He permits slavery and rape. This is only a partial list of passages which make it incredible that the morally perfect being of Christian theology could have inspired the Bible. Also problematic: the Bible contradicts itself about how God will treat his creatures after death, sometimes denying an afterlife, sometimes affirming it; when it affirms an afterlife, it threatens those who do not believe with eternal punishment. Better to give up the hypothesis of divine inspiration than to corrupt our moral thinking by trying to defend the indefensible.Less
This chapter argues that the moral character of God, as portrayed in the Scriptures he is supposed to have inspired, is a reasonable test of the claim that those Scriptures convey a divine revelation. The Christian Scriptures (the ‘Old’ Testament and the New) fail the test. They frequently represent God as authorizing bad conduct. He commands child sacrifice and genocide. He permits slavery and rape. This is only a partial list of passages which make it incredible that the morally perfect being of Christian theology could have inspired the Bible. Also problematic: the Bible contradicts itself about how God will treat his creatures after death, sometimes denying an afterlife, sometimes affirming it; when it affirms an afterlife, it threatens those who do not believe with eternal punishment. Better to give up the hypothesis of divine inspiration than to corrupt our moral thinking by trying to defend the indefensible.
Richard Swinburne
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199576739
- eISBN:
- 9780191595165
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576739.003.0021
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
When the Christian Church took over the Old Testament, it did so on the understanding that some of it should be understood in non-literal ways. Origen and then Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine ...
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When the Christian Church took over the Old Testament, it did so on the understanding that some of it should be understood in non-literal ways. Origen and then Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine developed a doctrine which Augustine summarized as ‘Whatever there is in the Word of God that cannot, when taken literally, be referred either to purity of life or soundness of doctrine, you may set down as metaphorical.’ And he applied this so as to reinterpret not merely passages which seemed inconsistent with Christian doctrine or moral teaching but also passages which seemed inconsistent with the supposed scientific truths established by contemporary Greek science. This tradition influenced much biblical interpretation until the Reformation and should lead us to interpret the Bible in the light of modern science. The meaning of any text depends on its context. The Bible is a patchwork of passages from different centuries. Only the whole Bible, and so any passage understood in that context, can claim full truth and full divine inspiration.Less
When the Christian Church took over the Old Testament, it did so on the understanding that some of it should be understood in non-literal ways. Origen and then Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine developed a doctrine which Augustine summarized as ‘Whatever there is in the Word of God that cannot, when taken literally, be referred either to purity of life or soundness of doctrine, you may set down as metaphorical.’ And he applied this so as to reinterpret not merely passages which seemed inconsistent with Christian doctrine or moral teaching but also passages which seemed inconsistent with the supposed scientific truths established by contemporary Greek science. This tradition influenced much biblical interpretation until the Reformation and should lead us to interpret the Bible in the light of modern science. The meaning of any text depends on its context. The Bible is a patchwork of passages from different centuries. Only the whole Bible, and so any passage understood in that context, can claim full truth and full divine inspiration.
Ole Riis and Linda Woodhead
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199567607
- eISBN:
- 9780191722493
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199567607.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter addresses the question: What is religious emotion? It argues that religious emotions are, first and foremost, those that arise in the context of religious emotional regimes. It then goes ...
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This chapter addresses the question: What is religious emotion? It argues that religious emotions are, first and foremost, those that arise in the context of religious emotional regimes. It then goes on to address the question whether emotion in such contexts has distinctive characteristics. How, if at all, does religious emotion differ from, say, emotion in the context of families, or politics, or sports, or art? The starting point in tackling all these questions is a critical engagement with existing literature on religious emotion, in relation to which the concept of a religious emotional regime is developed. By unfolding the wider implications of this concept, the chapter ends by identifying a number of characteristic features of religious emotion, including emotional ordering, emotional transcendence transition, and inspiration orientation.Less
This chapter addresses the question: What is religious emotion? It argues that religious emotions are, first and foremost, those that arise in the context of religious emotional regimes. It then goes on to address the question whether emotion in such contexts has distinctive characteristics. How, if at all, does religious emotion differ from, say, emotion in the context of families, or politics, or sports, or art? The starting point in tackling all these questions is a critical engagement with existing literature on religious emotion, in relation to which the concept of a religious emotional regime is developed. By unfolding the wider implications of this concept, the chapter ends by identifying a number of characteristic features of religious emotion, including emotional ordering, emotional transcendence transition, and inspiration orientation.
Victor J. Katz and Karen Hunger Parshall
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149059
- eISBN:
- 9781400850525
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149059.003.0007
- Subject:
- Mathematics, History of Mathematics
This chapter turns to the realm of Islamic mathematics, which lasted longer than both the era of classical Greek mathematics and the age of “modern mathematics.” In the Islamic world, mathematics ...
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This chapter turns to the realm of Islamic mathematics, which lasted longer than both the era of classical Greek mathematics and the age of “modern mathematics.” In the Islamic world, mathematics arose in various centers linked by networks of communication, primarily using the Arabic language, that persisted despite the general absence of political unity. Scholars turned to Greek and Mesopotamian sources, and also drew from a wellspring of “subscientific” sources. Islamic scholars during the first few hundred years of Islamic rule did more than just bring these sources together, however. They amalgamated them into a new whole and infused their mathematics with what they felt was divine inspiration, however, attitudes toward mathematical studies would change according to religious mandate. This chapter explores the history of Islamic mathematics as well as the algebraic formulations attributed to Islamic scholars.Less
This chapter turns to the realm of Islamic mathematics, which lasted longer than both the era of classical Greek mathematics and the age of “modern mathematics.” In the Islamic world, mathematics arose in various centers linked by networks of communication, primarily using the Arabic language, that persisted despite the general absence of political unity. Scholars turned to Greek and Mesopotamian sources, and also drew from a wellspring of “subscientific” sources. Islamic scholars during the first few hundred years of Islamic rule did more than just bring these sources together, however. They amalgamated them into a new whole and infused their mathematics with what they felt was divine inspiration, however, attitudes toward mathematical studies would change according to religious mandate. This chapter explores the history of Islamic mathematics as well as the algebraic formulations attributed to Islamic scholars.
Barbara B. Heyman
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195090581
- eISBN:
- 9780199853090
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195090581.003.0020
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
Samuel Barber was a brilliant American composer, whose work reflected European culture and influence. His style was noted to be clean, consistent, and conventional in form. Two points were most ...
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Samuel Barber was a brilliant American composer, whose work reflected European culture and influence. His style was noted to be clean, consistent, and conventional in form. Two points were most admirable in Barber's life. The first was his deep relationship with his greatest mentor and uncle Sidney Homer. Even twenty years after Homer's death, Barber still revered and respected him, and stated that a huge amount of his success was a result of his unwavering guidance. The second was his deep relationship with the performers of his pieces, where he involved them in the creation of his work even in the early stages. Barber's life, with all its triumphs, is in turn an inspiration to the young composers of today.Less
Samuel Barber was a brilliant American composer, whose work reflected European culture and influence. His style was noted to be clean, consistent, and conventional in form. Two points were most admirable in Barber's life. The first was his deep relationship with his greatest mentor and uncle Sidney Homer. Even twenty years after Homer's death, Barber still revered and respected him, and stated that a huge amount of his success was a result of his unwavering guidance. The second was his deep relationship with the performers of his pieces, where he involved them in the creation of his work even in the early stages. Barber's life, with all its triumphs, is in turn an inspiration to the young composers of today.
Robert Wyatt and John Andrew Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195327113
- eISBN:
- 9780199851249
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195327113.003.0038
- Subject:
- Music, Popular
This chapter presents the text of George Gershwin's essay about making music, which was published in the May 1930 issue of New York World Sunday Review. In this essay, Gershwin discusses the larger ...
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This chapter presents the text of George Gershwin's essay about making music, which was published in the May 1930 issue of New York World Sunday Review. In this essay, Gershwin discusses the larger issues of inspiration and compositional productivity. Gershwin clarifies that there was no single formula to composing music and explains that it requires so much more than just thirty-two bars. He also admits that there are times when a phrase of music cost him many hours of internal sweating.Less
This chapter presents the text of George Gershwin's essay about making music, which was published in the May 1930 issue of New York World Sunday Review. In this essay, Gershwin discusses the larger issues of inspiration and compositional productivity. Gershwin clarifies that there was no single formula to composing music and explains that it requires so much more than just thirty-two bars. He also admits that there are times when a phrase of music cost him many hours of internal sweating.
Robert Holland
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780300235920
- eISBN:
- 9780300240870
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300235920.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
Ever since the age of the Grand Tour in the eighteenth century, the Mediterranean has had a significant pull for Britons — including many painters and poets — who sought from it the inspiration, ...
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Ever since the age of the Grand Tour in the eighteenth century, the Mediterranean has had a significant pull for Britons — including many painters and poets — who sought from it the inspiration, beauty, and fulfilment that evaded them at home. Referred to as ‘Magick Land’ by one traveller, dreams about the Mediterranean, and responses to it, went on to shape the culture of a nation. This book charts how a new sensibility arose from British engagement with the Mediterranean, ancient and modern. Ranging from Byron's poetry to Damien Hirst's installations, the book shows that while idealized visions and aspirations often met with disillusionment and frustration, the Mediterranean also offered a notably insular society the chance to enrich itself through an imagined world of colour, carnival, and sensual self-discovery.Less
Ever since the age of the Grand Tour in the eighteenth century, the Mediterranean has had a significant pull for Britons — including many painters and poets — who sought from it the inspiration, beauty, and fulfilment that evaded them at home. Referred to as ‘Magick Land’ by one traveller, dreams about the Mediterranean, and responses to it, went on to shape the culture of a nation. This book charts how a new sensibility arose from British engagement with the Mediterranean, ancient and modern. Ranging from Byron's poetry to Damien Hirst's installations, the book shows that while idealized visions and aspirations often met with disillusionment and frustration, the Mediterranean also offered a notably insular society the chance to enrich itself through an imagined world of colour, carnival, and sensual self-discovery.
Cheryl B. Anderson
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195305500
- eISBN:
- 9780199867028
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195305500.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Theology
Contrary to traditional belief, Protestant tradition offers precedent for the contextual readings of Scripture that liberationists encourage. In re‐interpreting the Bible, the Reformers read the ...
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Contrary to traditional belief, Protestant tradition offers precedent for the contextual readings of Scripture that liberationists encourage. In re‐interpreting the Bible, the Reformers read the Bible theologically and contextually, taking into account the socio‐historical contexts of their respective faith communities. Each reformer thought the Word of God was something more dynamic than adherence to the literal words of the Bible, employing such critical interpretive norms as Christ's Incarnation or revelation (Luther and Wesley) or God's will for humanity (Wesley). For the Reformers, the Bible becomes the Word of God where the gospel is proclaimed in preaching and teaching (Luther and Calvin) and where the gospel demands and permits ever‐more‐exact moral fulfillment of the law (Wesley). Despite the Reformers' “mixed legacy” on women, the poor, and people of color, their ways of interpreting the Bible offer a basis for contextual readings today.Less
Contrary to traditional belief, Protestant tradition offers precedent for the contextual readings of Scripture that liberationists encourage. In re‐interpreting the Bible, the Reformers read the Bible theologically and contextually, taking into account the socio‐historical contexts of their respective faith communities. Each reformer thought the Word of God was something more dynamic than adherence to the literal words of the Bible, employing such critical interpretive norms as Christ's Incarnation or revelation (Luther and Wesley) or God's will for humanity (Wesley). For the Reformers, the Bible becomes the Word of God where the gospel is proclaimed in preaching and teaching (Luther and Calvin) and where the gospel demands and permits ever‐more‐exact moral fulfillment of the law (Wesley). Despite the Reformers' “mixed legacy” on women, the poor, and people of color, their ways of interpreting the Bible offer a basis for contextual readings today.
David Manning
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195182392
- eISBN:
- 9780199851485
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195182392.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western
Good taste is, without doubt, the stumbling block in the path of the “young English school of composers.” These “rising young musicians” lack neither good teachers, good models, good concerts, nor ...
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Good taste is, without doubt, the stumbling block in the path of the “young English school of composers.” These “rising young musicians” lack neither good teachers, good models, good concerts, nor good opportunities of bringing their works to a hearing; nevertheless, all their promise seems to be nipped in the bud by the blighting influence of “good taste.” Because good taste is a purely artificial restriction which a composer imposes on himself when he imagines that his inspiration is not enough to guide him. A genius has no time to consider the claims of good taste; he is hurried blindly forward by the power of his own invention, and it is only when that fails that he feels the absence of that prop on which the weak-kneed habitually stay themselves. If a composer is naturally vulgar, let him be frank and write vulgar music, instead of hedging himself about with an artificial barrier of good taste.Less
Good taste is, without doubt, the stumbling block in the path of the “young English school of composers.” These “rising young musicians” lack neither good teachers, good models, good concerts, nor good opportunities of bringing their works to a hearing; nevertheless, all their promise seems to be nipped in the bud by the blighting influence of “good taste.” Because good taste is a purely artificial restriction which a composer imposes on himself when he imagines that his inspiration is not enough to guide him. A genius has no time to consider the claims of good taste; he is hurried blindly forward by the power of his own invention, and it is only when that fails that he feels the absence of that prop on which the weak-kneed habitually stay themselves. If a composer is naturally vulgar, let him be frank and write vulgar music, instead of hedging himself about with an artificial barrier of good taste.
Eric Plumer
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- April 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199244393
- eISBN:
- 9780191601194
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199244391.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
Drawing partly upon De Doctrina Christiana, partly upon other writings of Augustine, Ch. 4 examines the hermeneutical presuppositions with which Augustine approaches the Bible. Of these ...
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Drawing partly upon De Doctrina Christiana, partly upon other writings of Augustine, Ch. 4 examines the hermeneutical presuppositions with which Augustine approaches the Bible. Of these presuppositions, the ones pertaining to the following three topics are of particular importance for an appreciation of Augustine's Commentary on Galatians: the inspiration of the Bible, the unity of the Bible, and the relation between Scripture and the rule of faith, or Creed. This chapter also considers the closely related matter of Augustine's sensitivity to questions of text and translation. The chapter ends by summarizing Augustine's Commentary and highlighting significant points.Less
Drawing partly upon De Doctrina Christiana, partly upon other writings of Augustine, Ch. 4 examines the hermeneutical presuppositions with which Augustine approaches the Bible. Of these presuppositions, the ones pertaining to the following three topics are of particular importance for an appreciation of Augustine's Commentary on Galatians: the inspiration of the Bible, the unity of the Bible, and the relation between Scripture and the rule of faith, or Creed. This chapter also considers the closely related matter of Augustine's sensitivity to questions of text and translation. The chapter ends by summarizing Augustine's Commentary and highlighting significant points.
Andrew Kahn
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199234745
- eISBN:
- 9780191715747
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199234745.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism, Poetry
This chapter explores the influence of invention on Pushkin's idea of expression. Specifically, it focuses on invention as the creative principle that regulates poetic enthusiasm consistent with the ...
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This chapter explores the influence of invention on Pushkin's idea of expression. Specifically, it focuses on invention as the creative principle that regulates poetic enthusiasm consistent with the canons of taste. Like imitation, it is a key element in Pushkin's self-description of poetic talent and underpins his classical elegance. At a time when his contemporaries hailed him as a Romantic, Pushkin was drawn to the theory of creativity and poetic invention advocated by the 18th-century theorists Jean-François La Harpe (1739-1803) and Jean-François Marmontel (1723-99). It is argued that both La Harpe and Marmontel were significant for Pushkin because their theory of the classical ideal focused on literary art as a powerful expression of sensibility, rather than on linguistic or stylistic rules. These ideas are at work in Pushkin's representation of poetic enthusiasm, where the vocabularies of craft and invention serve as touchstones of poetic taste.Less
This chapter explores the influence of invention on Pushkin's idea of expression. Specifically, it focuses on invention as the creative principle that regulates poetic enthusiasm consistent with the canons of taste. Like imitation, it is a key element in Pushkin's self-description of poetic talent and underpins his classical elegance. At a time when his contemporaries hailed him as a Romantic, Pushkin was drawn to the theory of creativity and poetic invention advocated by the 18th-century theorists Jean-François La Harpe (1739-1803) and Jean-François Marmontel (1723-99). It is argued that both La Harpe and Marmontel were significant for Pushkin because their theory of the classical ideal focused on literary art as a powerful expression of sensibility, rather than on linguistic or stylistic rules. These ideas are at work in Pushkin's representation of poetic enthusiasm, where the vocabularies of craft and invention serve as touchstones of poetic taste.
William J. Abraham
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199250035
- eISBN:
- 9780191600388
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199250030.003.0012
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The later Princeton theologians worked valiantly to develop a theory of inspiration and infallibility that would secure once for all their epistemic vision of scripture. Thus, while Benjamin ...
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The later Princeton theologians worked valiantly to develop a theory of inspiration and infallibility that would secure once for all their epistemic vision of scripture. Thus, while Benjamin Warfield, for example, sought to secure good evidence for his claims about revelation and inspiration, he was overtaken by sceptical worries that created a deep fissure in his thinking. Paradoxically, the Princeton theology operated out of fear rather than faith and badly misconstrued the inner witness of the Holy Spirit as a theological and pastoral category. Taken as whole, Princeton theology deepened the captivity of the Church and of genuine faith to epistemology.Less
The later Princeton theologians worked valiantly to develop a theory of inspiration and infallibility that would secure once for all their epistemic vision of scripture. Thus, while Benjamin Warfield, for example, sought to secure good evidence for his claims about revelation and inspiration, he was overtaken by sceptical worries that created a deep fissure in his thinking. Paradoxically, the Princeton theology operated out of fear rather than faith and badly misconstrued the inner witness of the Holy Spirit as a theological and pastoral category. Taken as whole, Princeton theology deepened the captivity of the Church and of genuine faith to epistemology.
Joseph M. Hassett
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199582907
- eISBN:
- 9780191723216
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199582907.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
This book explores how nine fascinating women inspired some of W.B. Yeats's most memorable poetry. Yeats's beliefs about poetic inspiration were remarkably akin to the Greek notion that a great poet ...
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This book explores how nine fascinating women inspired some of W.B. Yeats's most memorable poetry. Yeats's beliefs about poetic inspiration were remarkably akin to the Greek notion that a great poet is inspired and possessed by the feminine voices of the Muses, daughters of all powerful Zeus and Mnemosyne, goddess of memory. Influenced by the Pre‐Raphaelite idea of woman as ‘romantic and mysterious, still the priestess of her shrine,’ Yeats found his Muses in living women. The book examines the poetry inspired by these women in the context of the two principal Muse traditions, the Gnostic Wisdom tradition and the courtly love tradition of the troubadours, both of which can be understood as variants of the White Goddess theory propounded by Robert Graves. Given Yeats's belief that lyric poetry ‘is no rootless flower, but the speech of a man,’ exploring the relationship between poem and Muse brings new coherence to the poetry, illuminates the process of its creation, and unlocks the ‘second beauty’ to which Yeats referred when he said that ‘works of lyric genius, when the circumstances of their origin is known, gain a second a beauty, passing as it were out of literature and becoming life.’ As life emerges from the literature, the Muses are shown to be vibrant, accomplished personalities who shatter the stereotype of the Muse as a passive construct, and take their proper place as begetters of timeless poetry.Less
This book explores how nine fascinating women inspired some of W.B. Yeats's most memorable poetry. Yeats's beliefs about poetic inspiration were remarkably akin to the Greek notion that a great poet is inspired and possessed by the feminine voices of the Muses, daughters of all powerful Zeus and Mnemosyne, goddess of memory. Influenced by the Pre‐Raphaelite idea of woman as ‘romantic and mysterious, still the priestess of her shrine,’ Yeats found his Muses in living women. The book examines the poetry inspired by these women in the context of the two principal Muse traditions, the Gnostic Wisdom tradition and the courtly love tradition of the troubadours, both of which can be understood as variants of the White Goddess theory propounded by Robert Graves. Given Yeats's belief that lyric poetry ‘is no rootless flower, but the speech of a man,’ exploring the relationship between poem and Muse brings new coherence to the poetry, illuminates the process of its creation, and unlocks the ‘second beauty’ to which Yeats referred when he said that ‘works of lyric genius, when the circumstances of their origin is known, gain a second a beauty, passing as it were out of literature and becoming life.’ As life emerges from the literature, the Muses are shown to be vibrant, accomplished personalities who shatter the stereotype of the Muse as a passive construct, and take their proper place as begetters of timeless poetry.
A. C. Spearing
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198187240
- eISBN:
- 9780191719035
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198187240.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter begins from the history of Troilus criticism. It shows that the ‘narrator’, imagined as a fallible character distinct from an omniscient poet, invented by Donaldson in the 1950s, has ...
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This chapter begins from the history of Troilus criticism. It shows that the ‘narrator’, imagined as a fallible character distinct from an omniscient poet, invented by Donaldson in the 1950s, has come to be taken for granted, simplifying the poem and obscuring its exploratory quality. Detailed textual analysis suggests that in Troilus, the metanarrative ‘I‘ relates not to a single fictional narrator but to the poet’s real compositional processes involving claims to inspiration, problems with sources, and appeals to readers. Further analysis demonstrates the impossibility of distinguishing between the story itself and the means by which narration encodes multiple centres of subjectivity in the way it is told. Narrator readings are shown to substitute for Chaucer’s own empathy with Criseyde, the very misogyny against which Chaucer was reacting.Less
This chapter begins from the history of Troilus criticism. It shows that the ‘narrator’, imagined as a fallible character distinct from an omniscient poet, invented by Donaldson in the 1950s, has come to be taken for granted, simplifying the poem and obscuring its exploratory quality. Detailed textual analysis suggests that in Troilus, the metanarrative ‘I‘ relates not to a single fictional narrator but to the poet’s real compositional processes involving claims to inspiration, problems with sources, and appeals to readers. Further analysis demonstrates the impossibility of distinguishing between the story itself and the means by which narration encodes multiple centres of subjectivity in the way it is told. Narrator readings are shown to substitute for Chaucer’s own empathy with Criseyde, the very misogyny against which Chaucer was reacting.
