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Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten

Aesthetica

Interlinear Beta v2 · §§126–150

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§ 126

Theologi primi fuerunt theogoniarum cantores,

The first theologians were singers of theogonies,

Sourced quotation · Horace [64]

referre quibus Musa dedit fidibus divos, puerosque deorum.

"The glorious gods, the gods' heroic seed,
The conquering boxer, the victorious steed,
The joys of wine, the lover's fond desire,
Such themes the Muse appropriates to the lyre."

Hor.

Horace.

Sourced quotation · Virgil [65]

Cythara crinitus Iopas Personat aurata, docuit quae maximus Atlas. Hic canit errantem lunam, solisque labores, Unde hominum genus et pecudes; unde imber et ignes, e.c. Ingeminant plausum Tyrii Troesque sequuntur.

"On a gilded lyre
the flowing-haired Iopas woke a song
taught him by famous Atlas: of the moon
he sang, the wanderer, and what the sun's
vast labors be; then would his music tell
whence man and beast were born, and whence were bred
clouds, lightnings. ... Loudly the Tyrians their minstrel praised,
and Troy gave prompt applause."

Virg. Aen. I.745.

and so forth. "Tyrians redouble applause and Trojans follow," Virgil, Aeneid I.745.

Sourced quotation · Horace [66]

Rem tibi Socraticae poterunt ostendere chartae. Qui didicit, patriae quid debeat, et quid amicis, Quo sit amore parens, quo frater amandus et hospes, Quod sit conscripti, quod iudicis officium, quae Partes in bellum missi ducis,

"The page of Plato may suggest the thought,
Which found, the words will come as soon as sought.
The man who once has learned to comprehend
His duty to his country and his friend,
The love that parent, brother, guest may claim,
The judge's, senator's, or general's aim,
That man, when need occurs, will soon invent
For every part its proper sentiment."

habebit, unde nomen et honorem venustae quondam sapientiae restituat, si noverit res gravissimas ad vulgarem popularemque sensum accommodare, § 123, atque ita

will have a source from which he may restore the name and honor of once charming wisdom, if he knows how to accommodate the gravest matters to common and popular sense, § 123, and thus

Sourced quotation · Horace [67]

lenire tigres rabidosque leones Saxa movere sono testudinis, ac prece blanda, Publica privatis secernere, sacra profanis, Concubitu prohibere vago, dare iura maritis, Oppida moliri, leges incidere ligno.

"Orpheus, the priest and harper, pure and good,
Weaned savage tribes from deeds and feasts of blood,
Whence he was said to tame the monsters of the wood.
Amphion too, men said, at his desire
Moved massy stones, obedient to the lyre,
And Thebes arose. 'Twas wisdom's province then
To judge 'twixt states and subjects, gods and men,
Check vagrant lust, give rules to wedded folk,
Build cities up, and grave a code in oak."

Hor.

Horace. As for history,

Sourced quotation · Cicero [68]

Historia vero, testis temporum, lux veritatis, vita memoriae, magistra vitae, nuncia vetustatis,

"By what other voice, too, than that of the orator, is history, the evidence of time, the light of truth, the life of memory, the directress of life, the herald of antiquity, committed to immortality?"

quam eleganter possit immortalitati commendari, § 125, vel unum Livii genus cogitandi doceat,

how elegantly it can be commended to immortality, § 125, even Livy's mode of thinking alone may teach,

Sourced quotation · Cicero [69]

fusum atque tractum, et cum lenitate quadam aequabili profluens.

"The sort of language and character of style to be observed must be regular and continuous, flowing with a kind of equable smoothness."

cf. Cic. de Or. L. II, 36, 64.

Compare Cicero, On the Orator II.36, 64.

§ 127

Intra horizontem aestheticum posita sunt, praeter communia ipsi cum horizonte logico, §§ 121–126, de quibus plura cogitare pulcrius datur ingenio mediocriter aesthetico, quae tamen scientificis curis et exactionibus, § 120, perspicere, vel vires hominum non patiuntur, vel operae pretium rerum suarum satagenti non videatur, § 119. Exempli gratia liceat

Within the aesthetic horizon are placed, besides the things common to it with the logical horizon, §§ 121–126, those matters about which it is granted to a moderately aesthetic talent to think more beautifully and more abundantly, but which either human powers do not permit one to inspect with scientific cares and exact demands, § 120, or which do not seem worth the effort to one busy with his own matters, § 119. For example, it is permitted

Sourced quotation · Horace [70]

Hunc pugilem victorem, et equum certamine primum, Et iuvenum curas, et libera vina referre.

"The conquering boxer, the victorious steed,
The joys of wine, the lover's fond desire,
Such themes the Muse appropriates to the lyre."

§ 128

Aestheticum dynamicum, exploraturum, an materia quaedam satis locuples futura sit, vel aliena pericula docebunt, §§ 60, 61, vel sua, dum vires quasi praetentat in themate, quando primo venit in mentem, aut sola natura, S. II, nonnihil in pulcre cogitando exercita, S. III, aut adiuta per artem, S. IV. Si maiore se sentiat impetu mentis latum in certum thema, nihilo tamen minus, nescio quam rerum inopiam et informandi iam ipsius operis exilitatem ieiunam experiatur, § 120, aut, sicca quidem omnia ac sincera, minutim tamen et concisus animo obversantia, nihil dubitet illud relinquere, sive sic in rebus, sive sic in ipso, iam certe, potior ratio, unde de eius eleganter exsequendi facultate desperandum sit, S. V et § 119.

The dynamic aesthetician, about to investigate whether some matter will be sufficiently rich, will be taught either by the trials of others, §§ 60, 61, or by his own, while he, as it were, tests his powers on the theme when it first comes into mind, either by nature alone, Section II, somewhat exercised in thinking beautifully, Section III, or aided by art, Section IV. If he feels himself carried by a greater impulse of mind toward a certain theme, and nevertheless experiences some poverty of things and a meagre thinness of the work already to be formed, § 120, or if all things, though dry and sincere, nevertheless present themselves to the mind minutely and concisely, let him not doubt to leave it behind, whether the stronger reason why one must despair of the faculty of executing it elegantly lies thus in the things, or thus in himself, Section V and § 119.

§ 129

Ars his periculis commendanda duplex est 1) analogica qua ex uno pulcro cognito per principium reductionis idem (simile, aequale, congruens) partialiter aliud colligitur.

The art to be recommended for these dangers is twofold: 1) analogical, by which, from one known beautiful thing, through the principle of reduction, another thing partially the same, similar, equal, or congruent is gathered.

Hinc omnis imitatio virilis pendet, et quicquid est ubique parodiarum.

Hence all manly imitation depends, and whatever there is everywhere of parody.

Per hanc Theocritum in eclogis, Homerum in Aeneide sequutus est Virgilius, Menandrum Terentius, e.c. Quam nec ego me diffiteor utiliorem expertum esse.

By this Virgil followed Theocritus in the eclogues and Homer in the Aeneid; Terence followed Menander, and so forth. I do not deny that I have found this more useful.

Ne nimis metuas censores plagii vitio creatos, en! edictum iudicis sane competentis:

Lest you fear too much the critics created by the vice of plagiarism, behold the edict of a certainly competent judge:

Sourced quotation · Horace [71]

Publica materies privati iuris erit,

"But, with some few precautions, you may set
Your private mark on public chattels yet."

Hor. Neque tamen eiusdem definitiones negligas:

Horace. And yet do not neglect his definitions of the same:

Sourced quotation · Horace [72]

Nec verbum verbo curabis reddere. Nec desilies imitator in artum Unde pedem proferre pudor vetet, aut operis lex.

"Nor, bound too closely to the Grecian Muse,
Translate the words whose soul you should transfuse,
Nor act the copyist's part, and work in chains
Which, once put on by rashness, shame retains."

§ 130

2) Topica seu topologia, quae definitur ars seu disciplina inveniendorum argumentorum, § 26. Cic. top. 2. Eandem

2) Topics, or topology, which is defined as the art or discipline of finding arguments, § 26, Cicero, Topics 2. Cicero, greeting the same as the

Sourced quotation · Cicero [73]

inveniendi artem

"But the art of discovering arguments, which is called topics, and which was more serviceable for practical use, and certainly prior in the order of nature, they have wholly disregarded."

Cicero salutans, l.c. 6, et Aristoteles etiam multis tradens, sua velut auctoritate stabilierunt.

at the cited place, 6, and Aristotle too, handing it down in many ways, established it as if by their authority.

Interim si dicendum, quod res est, non est ea tam heuristica, quam ars praedicata certi subiecti secundum certum notionum subiecto sociarum ordinem in memoriam revocandi.

Meanwhile, if what the thing is must be said, it is not so much heuristic as the art of recalling to memory the predicates of a certain subject according to a certain order of notions associated with that subject.

§ 131

Potest doctrina topicorum dividi in logicam cognitioni intellectuali potissimum argumenta suppeditaturam, § 130; et aestheticam, cognitionem sensitivam quae promoveat, § 17. Logica erit denuo vel analytica, subsidium incidendi in quaestiones, quas deinde demonstrare nitaris et ex complete certis complete certa reddere, vel dialectica, subsidium hylen aliquam copiamque sibi comparandi notionum praeceptionumque de dato probabili, unde colligere liceat rationum decidendi prae rationibus dubitandi superpondium.

The doctrine of topics can be divided into logical, which will chiefly supply arguments to intellectual cognition, § 130, and aesthetic, which promotes sensitive cognition, § 17. Logic again will be either analytic, an aid for falling upon questions which you then try to demonstrate and render completely certain from things completely certain; or dialectic, an aid for acquiring for oneself some hyle and abundance of notions and precepts about a given probable matter, from which it is permitted to gather the preponderance of reasons for deciding over reasons for doubting.

Hanc sibi colendam sumsit Aristoteles; ita tamen, ut multa eo facientia non analyticis solum, sed et aestheticis applicari commode possint topicis, § 130.

Aristotle undertook to cultivate this latter kind, yet in such a way that many things belonging to it can conveniently be applied not only to analytic topics but also to aesthetic topics, § 130.

§ 132

Notio subiecto, quod meditandum sumis, socianda, ut periculum facias, an fieri tibi possit argumentum, vel latius, locupletans aut nobilitans, aut illustrans, aut movens, § 26, vel strictius, probans aut persuadens, § 131, pars illius seriei, cuius ordinem memoriae mandasti, locus est seu sedes argumenti.

A notion to be associated with the subject which you take up for meditation, so that you may make trial whether it can become for you an argument, either more broadly, enriching or ennobling or illustrating or moving, § 26, or more strictly, proving or persuading, § 131, is part of that series whose order you have committed to memory; it is a locus, or seat of argument.

Tales loci commendantur vel universales, omnibus quaestionibus, thematibus omnibus, aptandi, successive cum re quacunque, de qua meditari velis, combinandi; vel particulares, certis tantum thematibus certi generis proprii ac peculiares, et pro ratione disciplinarum, e.g. ad quas datum thema referri posset, diversi, § 131.

Such places are recommended either as universal, to be adapted to all questions and all themes, to be combined successively with any matter whatever on which you wish to meditate; or as particular, proper and peculiar only to certain themes of a certain kind, and different according to the disciplines, for example, to which a given theme could be referred, § 131.

§ 133

Universalium eiusmodi locorum formula paullisper ad naturalem cogitandi rationem inflexa, pueris etiam notus est versus:

The formula of universal places of this kind, bent a little toward the natural way of thinking, is the verse known even to boys:

Sourced quotation · Source not specified [74]

Quis? quibus auxiliis? quid? quomodo? cur? ubi? quando?

"Who, what, where, by what aids, why, how, and when."

Aliam, olim pluris habitam, et logicis etiam pertractatam, § 132, decem exhibent categoriae, sive primus eas coordinaverit, sive iam constructas ab aliis celebriores tantum reddiderit Aristoteles.

Another formula, once held in higher regard and also treated by logicians, § 132, is displayed by the ten categories, whether Aristotle first coordinated them or merely made more celebrated those already constructed by others.

Novam, scientiis etiam profuturam, magno hiatu promisit Lullus, de qua vel ea legens, quae S. R. Bruckeri hist. philos. crit. T. IV. P. II. narrat p. 16–21, vix temperare tibi poteris, quin applices arti futili Martialis illud:

Lullus promised a new one, destined also to benefit the sciences, with a great gap; about it, even while reading what S. R. Brucker narrates in his Critical History of Philosophy, vol. IV, part II, pp. 16–21, you will scarcely be able to restrain yourself from applying Martial's saying to that futile art:

Sourced quotation · Martial [75]

Turpe est difficiles habere nugas, Et stultus labor est ineptiarum.

"One should be ashamed to produce difficult trifles, and the toil spent on affectations is folly."

Aliam sequutus est Ramus, Ciceronis imitator ibi etiam, ubi oratoris persona non sufficit, § 119. Ex quo caussalis invaluit methodus per omnes eruditorum ordines.

Ramus followed another, imitating Cicero even where the person of the orator is not sufficient, § 119. From this the causal method grew strong through all orders of the learned.

§ 134

Hac ratione § 132, posses in quocunque subiecto percurrere I. genus summum, II. intermedia, III. infimum, IV. speciem, V. individua, in quocunque I. essentiam et essentialia, II. attributa propria et communia, III. modos IV. respectus et relationes.

In this way, § 132, you could run through in any subject: I. the highest genus, II. intermediates, III. the lowest, IV. the species, V. individuals; in anything: I. essence and essentials, II. proper and common attributes, III. modes, IV. respects and relations.

Nec opus est nova arte, si quis subsidiis eiusmodi delectabitur, aut ea sibi profutura putaverit.

Nor is there need of a new art, if anyone will take pleasure in aids of this kind or think them useful to himself.

Memoriae manda sciagraphiam ontologicorum aliquam praecipua eorundem definita comprehensam, et habebis topica catholica § 132.

Commit to memory some sketch of ontological matters, comprising their principal defined items, and you will have catholic topics, § 132.

§ 135

Particulares locos dabit quaevis disciplina satis complete cognita; si potiora momenta per eandem et in eius obiectis attendenda brevem in summam comprehensa insigas altius memoriae, quorum ad seriem eo pertinentia propius themata possis successive praesentare divitias eorum nonnihil exploraturus, tuasque dehinc rationes subducere.

Any discipline known sufficiently completely will give particular places, if you impress more deeply on memory its more important moments, gathered into a brief summary, which must be attended to throughout it and in its objects; to their series you may successively present themes more closely belonging to them, intending to explore somewhat their riches, and then draw your own conclusions.

Huc faciet eruditio pulcra, § 66. Themata singularia et ideae saltim notas tales attendendas habent potissimum, et praedicata, quibus disciplinae cuiusdam maxime cognatae forulos excutere non sine commodo possis, aut differentia talium idearum numerica magnam partem cognita loco locorum communium succedet.

Beautiful erudition will contribute to this, § 66. Singular themes and ideas have, at least, such marks and predicates especially to be attended to, by which you can not without advantage shake out the little drawers of some most closely related discipline; or the numerical difference of such ideas, known for the most part, will take the place of common places.

Hac etiam deficiente nec ideam eiusmodi tibi thema sume, sine necessitate, § 115.

If even this is lacking, do not take such an idea as a theme for yourself without necessity, § 115.

§ 136

Equidem, ex quo puerilibus exercitiis egressus sum, si quid ad elegantiae potius rationes, quam logicorum exactitudinem, demonstrationisque rigorem, § 119, meditandum sum ausus componere, nunquam memini topica, sive malis universalia, § 132, sive particularia quaedam, § 135, ad nunc demum aliquam mihi comparandam exsequendorum copiam et ubertatem, vel desiderare, vel adhibere, vel experiri adeo singulariter utilia.

Indeed, from the time when I left behind childish exercises, if I dared to compose anything for meditation according to the principles of elegance rather than according to the exactness of logicians and the rigor of demonstration, § 119, I never recall either wanting topics, whether you prefer universal ones, § 132, or certain particular ones, § 135, or applying them, or finding them so uniquely useful for now at last acquiring for myself some abundance and richness of things to be carried out.

Si tamen de iisdem iudicium meum interponere liceat, distinguendum mihi et hic videtur inter palaria, copiose cogitandi ausus exercitii potissimum caussas susceptos, et ipsam pugnam, edenda, vel exhibenda saltim pluribus, ceu perfectum nonnihil et absolutum opus ingenii iam in aliis mediocriter exercitati.

Yet if I may insert my judgment about the same matters, here too it seems to me that one must distinguish between the palaria, undertaken chiefly for the sake of the exercise of daring to think copiously, and the battle itself, which is to be published, or at least displayed to several people, as something perfected and as the finished work of a talent already moderately exercised in other things.

S. III.

Sect. III.

§ 137

In exercitiis, qualia descripsi § 136, sine dubio lego ad bene multa themata intra horizontem aestheticum constituta, § 119, reflexionem crebriorem et gnaviter continuatam, secundum quaecunque topica, vel maxime catholica, § 132, quoniam exerceri quacunque ratione copiose cogitandi facultatem, caetera si fuerint paria, praestat, quam vel omnino non acquiri maiorem, vel torpescere vix cultam aliquantulum et velut exarescere, § 48. Quo perfectiora erunt, quo magis commoda exercendi viribus et memoriae, hoc quidem magis erunt in universalibus etiam alia topica suadenda prae aliis, § 133, 134. neque tamen vel ipsam Lullii artem aliquoties sequi dissuaderem, si fiat non sine naevorum insignium aliqua conscientia, § 133, 49.

In exercises such as those I described in § 136, I without doubt choose, for very many themes placed within the aesthetic horizon, § 119, a rather frequent and energetically continued reflection according to whatever topics, even especially catholic ones, § 132, since to exercise the faculty of thinking copiously in whatever way, other things being equal, is better than either not acquiring a greater faculty at all or letting one scarcely cultivated a little grow sluggish and, as it were, dry up, § 48. The more perfect they are, the more convenient for exercising powers and memory, so much the more, in universal topics too, some topics will indeed be recommended before others, § 133, 134. Yet I would not dissuade someone from sometimes following even Lull's art itself, provided it is done not without some awareness of its notable blemishes, § 133, 49.

§ 138

Exercitia, de quibus § 136, sed illa iam correctiora et certiora, de quibus § 58, multo magis meditationes iam non amplius exercitii caussa potissimum institutae, § 136, sibi recte dictum putant:

Exercises, of which § 136 speaks, but those already more corrected and more certain, of which § 58 speaks, and much more meditations now no longer chiefly undertaken for the sake of exercise, § 136, rightly think this said to themselves:

Sourced quotation · Horace [76]

Non circa vilem patulumque moraberis orbem, Quod non proposito conducat et haereat apte,

"Avoid careering and careering still
In the old round, like carthorse in a mill;
...
And whatsoe'er between the acts they chant
Should all be apt, appropriate, relevant."

si vel maxime venerit in mentem, recisurus, § 18. In his itaque personae memor sibi impositae facile praevidens ex catholicis topicis § 132, quae quadrent rebus omnibus, vix ac ne vix quidem sperari posse, nisi universalissima et maxime communia themati suo praedicata, longius altiusque petitas magisque, quam fas est, tritas ambages exhibitura, vel meditationi perfectionem tantum § 15, ultra horizontem aestheticum constitutam, § 121, conciliatura, minus curabit horum topicorum subsidio hylen corradere, parum aut nihil ad venuste cogitandum profuturam. § 132.

even if it has especially come into mind, being ready to cut it away, § 18. Therefore in these cases, mindful of the role imposed upon himself and easily foreseeing that from catholic topics, § 132, which fit all things, hardly, indeed scarcely at all, can anything be hoped for except the most universal and most common predicates for his theme, likely to display circumlocutions sought too far and too high and more worn than is permissible, or likely to procure for the meditation only a perfection, § 15, placed beyond the aesthetic horizon, § 121, he will care less to scrape together, with the aid of these topics, hyle that will profit little or nothing for thinking gracefully. § 132.

§ 139

De topicis particularibus mitius sentire veritas iubet, § 132. Licet enim eorum sectator etiam in peccatum, de quo § 138, possit incidere, vel in affectatum cogitandi coactumque genus, § 110, possunt tamen hi scopuli pulcre vitari copiam nihilominus bellam ex alicuius disciplinae veluti votiva tabula cum suo themate comparata reportaturo, § 135. In exemplis peregrinis nunc non haerebo.

Truth bids us think more gently about particular topics, § 132. For although a follower of them can also fall into the fault of which § 138 speaks, or into an affected and forced kind of thinking, § 110, nevertheless these rocks can be beautifully avoided by one who will still carry away a fine abundance from some discipline, as from a votive tablet compared with his theme, § 135. I shall not now linger over foreign examples.

Versum mnemonicum § 22, reor utiliter topicorum aestheticorum, § 131, vices subiturum apud eos, qui singularum, quas exhibet, vocum satis lautam sibi notitiam, vel per hanc, quam meditor, theoriam, vel aliunde comparaverunt, ingenioque mediocriter felici, secundum S. II–V thema quoddam, non primo statim ex adspectu reiiciendum, § 120, 121, praeiudicialibus veluti quaestionibus, excutiendum sibi sumunt, an aptam eleganter cogitandi materiam sit ipsis large liberaliterque suggesturum. § 118, 128.

I think that the mnemonic verse of § 22 will usefully take the place of aesthetic topics, § 131, among those who have acquired for themselves a sufficiently ample knowledge of the several words it displays, either through this theory that I am contemplating or from elsewhere, and who, with a moderately happy talent, according to Sections II–V, take up some theme, not to be rejected immediately at first sight, § 120, 121, to be tested by quasi-prejudicial questions, whether it will suggest to them, abundantly and liberally, matter fit for thinking elegantly. § 118, 128.

§ 140

Aliam addamus formulam topicorum aestheticorum, § 131. Quo plures, quo perfectiores facultates animae inferiores, quo plura, quo maiora, quo magis cohaerentia, sub intellectus et rationis imperio, poterunt conferre ad pulcre cogitandum thema datum, hoc erit illud pulcrae meditationi aptius, § 22. M. § 185. Hinc cui animus est, quem § 128, 139, descripsimus, psychologus ubi fuerit, quod multis ex rationibus arbitror apprime necessarium, percurrat suum thema praeiudicialiter, ut ita dicam, examinandum ad satis completum facultatum animae sensitivarum aliquem catalogum, his circiter quaestionibus: An datum thema saepe sensi, an multa in eodem? an satis digna? an verisimilia? an ea in luce, quam vivide satis sistere possim? e.c. § 139. an sentire adhuc possum? an licet illud imaginari? an multa in eo? e.c. An novi multa eidem similia, aequalia, congruentia, proportionata?

Let us add another formula of aesthetic topics, § 131. The more numerous and more perfect the lower faculties of the soul are, and the more, the greater, and the more coherent the things they will be able to contribute, under the command of intellect and reason, toward thinking a given theme beautifully, the more apt that theme will be for beautiful meditation, § 22. Metaphysics § 185. Hence, when a person has the disposition that we described in § 128 and § 139, and when he has become a psychologist, which I judge for many reasons to be especially necessary, let him run through his theme, to be examined prejudicially, so to speak, against some sufficiently complete catalogue of the sensitive faculties of the soul, with roughly these questions: Have I often sensed the given theme, and many things in it? Are they sufficiently worthy? Are they plausible? Are they in a light in which I can present them vividly enough? etc., § 139. Can I still sense it? Is it permissible to imagine it? Are there many things in it? etc. Do I know many things similar, equal, congruent, and proportioned to it?

Reliqua suggeret psychologia, e.g. M. P. III. S. II–XVII. et vel ipsa eius synopsis aestheticorum, § 131, sicut ontologicorum synopsis catholicorum topicorum vices subitura, § 134, ex ipsa tractatione facillime locupletandae, si placuerit huc vocare, quod videatur non hos concessum munus ad usus, § 119, 123.

Psychology will suggest the rest, for example Metaphysics, Part III, Sections II–XVII; and even its own synopsis will take the place of aesthetic topics, § 131, just as a synopsis of ontological matters takes the place of catholic topics, § 134, to be very easily enriched from the treatment itself, if one wishes to summon here what seems "not a gift granted for these uses," § 119, 123.

§ 141

Si praeliminaribus eiusmodi, secundum artem quamcunque topicam, § 130–140, institutis collectionibus occupatum corripuerit ille mentis impetus ac incitatio, de quibus S. V, iam tibi satis superque profuisse velitationes iudicans, reiice, quicquid est ubique locorum, § 132, pendeant opera topicorum interrupta, tuque in eventum festinans et in medias res non secus, ac notas, raptus, aggredere totum, pone caput, informa partes principes futuri operis,

If, after preliminary collections of this sort have been instituted according to whatever topical art, § 130–140, that impulse and incitement of mind of which Section V speaks should seize you while you are occupied, then, judging that the skirmishes have now benefited you enough and more than enough, throw away whatever is everywhere among the places, § 132; let the labors of topics hang interrupted, and you, hastening toward the result and, no otherwise than into known things, being carried into the midst of things, take up the whole, set down the head, shape the principal parts of the future work:

Sourced quotation · Juvenal (adapted by Baumgarten) [77]

vocant quia carbasa venti, Totos pande sinus,

"All vice is at its acme; up with your sails and shake out every stitch of canvas!"

ne, dum tuam pertexis telam topicam inglorius,

lest, while ingloriously weaving through your topical web,

Sourced quotation · Virgil [78]

nec Zephyros audis spirare secundos,

"Nor hearest thou the voice
of friendly zephyrs calling?"

rem maximam cunctando perdas, et occasionem amittas, loco praeparatoriorum, egregie conficiendi partem operis ipsius gravissimam, § 95, qua si gnaviter esses usus opportunitate,

you lose the greatest matter by delay and let the occasion go, instead of preliminaries, for excellently completing the most weighty part of the work itself, § 95; if you had used that opportunity energetically,

Sourced quotation · Catullus [79]

utrumque Iuppiter Simul secundus incidisset in pedem.

"or whether favorable Jove fell on both the sheets at once"

Cat.

Catullus.

§ 142

Sectio XI. Argumenta locupletantia.

Section XI. Enriching Arguments.

Iam definivi argumentum latius, et mentionem locupletantium argumentorum inieci, simul ostendens figurarum sententiae classes easdem commode, quas argumentorum assignari. § 26. Iam facile colligamus, quo maior argumenti vis sit, hoc ipsum maius meliusque fore, si vero ad ubertatem alterius, e.g. thematis primarii, non solum, sed ad eius pondus simul et gravitatem e.c. haud parum eleganter conferat, hoc maiorem ipsi vim et robur attribui debere.

I have already defined argument more broadly and introduced mention of enriching arguments, at the same time showing that the same classes of figures of thought can conveniently be assigned as of arguments, § 26. Now let us easily gather that the greater the force of an argument is, the greater and better it will itself be; but if it contributes elegantly, and not a little, not only to the abundance of another thing, for example of the primary theme, but also at the same time to its weight and gravity, etc., then a greater force and strength ought to be attributed to it.

Erit itaque secundum hanc intensionis scalam argumentum et figura pulcerrima, quae cognitionem et locupletiorem, et graviorem et veriorem et clariorem et certiorem et ardentiorem alterius, e.g. thematis primarii, simul efficiant, § 22.

Therefore, according to this scale of intensity, the most beautiful argument and figure will be the one that simultaneously makes the cognition of another thing, for example of the primary theme, richer, weightier, truer, clearer, more certain, and more ardent, § 22.

§ 143

Quanquam multiplex argumentorum et figurarum esse simul efficacia potest, possunt tamen ad unam dictarum classium referri, vel a potiori sua vi desumta denominatione, vel ab ea, cuius finem nunc maxime attendimus.

Although the efficacy of arguments and figures can be multiple at the same time, nevertheless they can be referred to one of the classes mentioned, either by a name taken from their predominant force or from that end to which we are now especially attending.

Hinc argumenta figuraeque mihi locupletantes iam sunt, quarum vel unica, quod minime probaverim, vel potissima, quod magis, vel nunc saltim attendenda vis est aliquid conferre ad abundantiam divitiasque totius operis belle cogitandi, licet deinceps reliquis cogitationum gratiis § 22 easdem non minus faventes deprehensuri simus, quod maxime probaverim. § 142.

Hence for me enriching arguments and figures are now those whose sole force, which I would least approve, or predominant force, which I would approve more, or at least force now to be attended to, is to contribute something to the abundance and riches of the whole work of beautiful thinking, although afterward we shall discover that the same things favor the remaining graces of thoughts, § 22, no less, which I would approve most of all. § 142.

§ 144

Topica quaecunque saltim significatu primo § 143 dabunt ingenio mediocriter instructo locupletantia argumenta. § 130–140. Quae subindicavi § 139, 140, primis tantum locis, locorumque divisionibus mere talia, reliquis autem, praeter copiam, aliam simul, vel omnino plures, gratias secundum eorum ordinem meditanti sistent ob oculos. § 143. Hinc, quem reliqua poscunt successivum iudicii actum ex hyle suaque confusa seligentem, an et quo quid adhiberi possit fine, duo ultima topicorum genera statim iungent simultaneum inventionis, aut recordationis potius, actui. § 130.

Any topics whatever, at least in the first meaning, § 143, will give enriching arguments to a moderately instructed talent. § 130–140. The things I indicated in § 139 and § 140 will present before the eyes of one meditating according to their order merely such arguments in the first places and divisions of places; but in the remaining ones, besides abundance, they will present at the same time another grace, or altogether several graces. § 143. Hence the last two kinds of topics will at once join to the simultaneous act of invention, or rather of recollection, the successive act of judgment that the remaining things require, selecting from its confused hyle whether, and to what end, something can be used. § 130.

§ 145

In figuris significationis, e.g. dictionis, ipsis sunt quaedam eo quidem ordinario relatae, § 26, quarum tamen vis et elegantia, si quis iis, uti vir, utatur, in ipsis se rebus et cogitationibus exserat, ob quam in figuris sententiae, rite locatae, locum mereantur.

Among figures of signification, for example of diction, there are some related to that class in the ordinary way, § 26; yet their force and elegance, if someone uses them, as a man, may unfold themselves in the things and thoughts themselves, on account of which, when properly placed among figures of thought, they deserve a place.

Exempla figurarum dictionis, uti vocantur, adducam, quoniam earum nomina notiora sunt, et earum quidem aliquas, quas locupletantes dixeris.

I shall adduce examples of figures of diction, as they are called, because their names are better known, and indeed some of them that you would call enriching.

Pleonasmus videtur otiosi quid expressisse, dictumque iam satis per vocabula socia, neque tamen figura est, sed vitium, nisi, quod otiosum censebatur, acuto iudici saltim ad pleniorem rei significatae cognitionem admodum negotiosum deprehendatur. § 143.

Pleonasm seems to have expressed something idle, and something already said sufficiently through companion words; nevertheless it is not a figure but a vice unless what was judged idle is discovered, at least by an acute judge, to be quite busy toward a fuller cognition of the thing signified. § 143.

§ 146

Synonymia totalis non est figura, partialis est, si per differentias synonymo cuiusvis adhaerentium conceptuum res significata copiosius saltim sistatur, ac per unum synonymorum partialium fieri potuisset.

Total synonymy is not a figure; partial synonymy is, if through the differences of the concepts adhering to any synonym the thing signified is at least presented more copiously than could have been done through one of the partial synonyms.

Exergasiae par est ratio in Phrasibus s. pluribus vocabulis iam inter se quidem constructis nonnihil, neque tamen punctum constituentibus.

The same account applies to exergasia in phrases, or in several words already somewhat constructed with one another, yet not constituting a period.

Synthesis, aut synesis potius, et compositio, dum vocabula iungit contra syntaxin, ut videtur, et hinc cogit, praeter expresse posita, partialiter synonyma eorum, cogitare, quibus syntaxis faveat, si figura est, est synonymia, quae figura sit, cryptica.

Synthesis, or rather synesis, and composition, when it joins words against syntax, as it seems, and from this compels one, besides the things expressly posited, to think the partial synonyms of them to which syntax would be favorable, if it is a figure, is synonymy, a figure that is cryptic.

Ipsa huc ellipsis, si lector auditorve lacunam deprehendat in vocabulis, Quaeque latent, meliora putans, multo plura suppleturus ipse sibi tradat, ac tribus verbis exprimi potuissent. § 145.

Ellipsis itself belongs here, if the reader or hearer detects a gap in the words, "thinking the things that lie hidden better," and hands over to himself much more to be supplied than could have been expressed in three words. § 145.

§ 147

Hypallage, sane, figura non erit, nisi sensus verborum, in quibus lingua mentem praecurrere videbatur, cum illo, qui vel quasi correctionibus additur, vel lectori auditorique quasi corrigendus relinquitur, saltim rem plenius sistat et rotundius, ac sine affectata hypallage fieri potuisset, § 145, 143. Homoeoteleuton, iugum poetis nostratium aliquibus intolerabile, sunt alii, qui multum ad ubertatem copiam et divitias cogitationum conferre dicant, ita, ut parum absit, quin inter topica referatur, § 130. Periphrasis in aliis finibus eleganter assequendis hunc etiam finem habere potest laudabilis, ut, si praevideas uno vocabulo unum etiam tantum conceptum excitandum de re, tot de eadem conceptus partiales unius excites loco, quot uni substituis voci per periphrasin vocabula, § 145.

Hypallage, certainly, will not be a figure unless the sense of the words, in which the tongue seemed to run ahead of the mind, together with that sense which is either added as if by corrections or left as if to be corrected by the reader or hearer, presents the thing at least more fully and more roundly than could have happened without affected hypallage, § 145, 143. Homoeoteleuton, a yoke intolerable to some of our poets, is said by others to contribute much to the richness, abundance, and wealth of thoughts, so that it is not far from being referred among the topics, § 130. Periphrasis, while elegantly pursuing other ends, can also have this laudable end: if you foresee that by one word even only one concept would be aroused about a thing, you may arouse, in place of one, as many partial concepts about the same thing as the words you substitute by periphrasis for a single word, § 145.

§ 148

Figurarum, quae solent etiam haberi in figuris sententiae, § 145, unam tantum exempli loco nominabo in locupletantibus, praeteritionem, qua si probe noveris uti, vel etiam eius crypsi, synathroismo, non id solum assequeris, ut multa possis, et tamen breviter, dicere, § 143, sed simul ut spectator, animadvertens, quam lautam supellectilem, quasi negligens, sicco pede transeas, sibi velut ipse tacitus dicat, § 117, (quod et ego de quacunque re vere pulcra, quam nobis natura concessit, dictum velim)

Of the figures that are also usually counted among figures of thought, § 145, I shall name only one among the enriching figures as an example: praeterition. If you have learned to use it well, or even its cryptic form, synathroism, you will attain not only this, that you can say many things and yet briefly, § 143, but at the same time that the spectator, noticing what splendid furnishings you pass over, as if neglecting them, with dry foot, may say to himself, as if silently, § 117 – and I would wish this said also about any truly beautiful thing that nature has granted us –

Sourced quotation · Phaedrus [80]

Materia tanta abundat copia, Labori faber ut desit, non fabro labor,

"Yet if the spacious field we view,
More men are wanting for the plan,
Rather than matter for the man."

Phaedr.

Phaedrus.

§ 149

Sectio XII. Uberitas ingenii.

Section XII. Richness of Talent.

Uberrima sit, etiam aesthetice, § 115, res, quam thema forsan mihi sumerem, non tamen in illam tantum oculos figo, sed etiam ad me prudenter

Let the thing that I might perhaps take as my theme be most rich, even aesthetically, § 115; nevertheless I do not fix my eyes only on it, but prudently also look back to myself and

Sourced quotation · Virgil [81]

Respicio, et, quae sit me circum copia lustro,

"Then my eyes
looked round me seeking aid."

Virg. Si quid eleganter cogitare ferat animus, quaeritur etiam de ubertate subiectiva, § 118. Sicut in opticis, in aestheticis etiam quilibet suum horizontem habet, et potest aliquid esse multorum in horizonte aesthetico, quod tamen non est intra meum, sed illum vel transcendit, vel infra eundem deprimitur, § 119–121, vel saltim est extra eum.

Virgil. If the mind is inclined to think something elegantly, inquiry is also made about subjective richness, § 118. Just as in optics, so also in aesthetics, each person has his own horizon; and something can be in the aesthetic horizon of many people that nevertheless is not within mine, but either transcends it, or is depressed below it, § 119–121, or at least is outside it.

Sicut in geographicis horizon apparens, nunc latior est, nunc angustior, ita meus horizon aestheticus potest contrahi, potest dilatari.

Just as in geography the apparent horizon is now wider, now narrower, so my aesthetic horizon can be contracted and can be enlarged.

Sunt ingenia, quorum nonnunquam,

There are talents of which sometimes

Sourced quotation · Virgil [82]

Tres caeli spatium distat non amplius ulnas.

"Say in what clime–and you shall be withal
my great Apollo–the whole breadth of heaven
opens no wider than three ells to view."

§ 150

Est in primis venuste cogitandi regulis, § 149,

Among the first rules of thinking gracefully, § 149, is

Sourced quotation · Horace [83]

sumere materiam suis aequam, Viribus, et versare diu, quid ferre recusent, Quid valeant humeri.

"Good authors, take a brother bard's advice:
Ponder your subject o'er not once nor twice,
And oft and oft consider, if the weight
You hope to lift be or be not too great."

Hinc ad requisita pulcre cogitaturae personae non tantum S. II–VI memorata pertinent, sed et peculiariter, ut vires eius etiam sufficiant, ad datam materiem, et data quidem occasione, dato tempore et loco, copiose e.c. § 22, cogitandam.

Hence the requisites of a person who is going to think beautifully include not only the things remembered in Sections II–VI, but also especially this: that his powers be sufficient for thinking the given matter, and indeed for thinking it copiously, etc., § 22, on the given occasion, at the given time and place.

Sources and textual notes

[64] Horace, Ars Poetica 83-85. John Conington, The Satires, Epistles, and Art of Poetry of Horace, Project Gutenberg eBook 5419. Source 1

Baumgarten moves Horace's governing referre from the end of the three-line list to its beginning and quotes only the gods and their sons. Conington's stanza retains the complete list because its rhyme and syntax are indivisible; entry 70 below draws on the same source lines for the list's second half.

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Project Gutenberg supplies a United States reuse statement; Conington died in 1869.

[65] Virgil, Aeneid 1.740-747. Theodore C. Williams, The Aeneid of Virgil (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1910), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

The ellipsis marks the three source lines Baumgarten skips before resuming with the applause. Baumgarten's docuit quae differs from Virgil's docuit quem, whose antecedent is Iopas, and plausum differs from the source's ablative plausu. Both forms require checking against Baumgarten's scan. Cythara/cithara is an orthographic difference.

Reuse information

The cited translation was published in 1910 and is in the United States public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[66] Horace, Ars Poetica 310-315. John Conington, The Satires, Epistles, and Art of Poetry of Horace, Project Gutenberg eBook 5419. Source 1

Baumgarten omits Horace's intervening verbaque line and ends before ille profecto. Conington's continuous eight-line passage retains both because the English grammar and rhyme require them. Plato is Conington's specific rendering of the broader Socraticae chartae.

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Project Gutenberg supplies a United States reuse statement; Conington died in 1869.

[67] Horace, Ars Poetica 393-399. John Conington, The Satires, Epistles, and Art of Poetry of Horace, Project Gutenberg eBook 5419. Source 1

Baumgarten joins three excerpts while omitting the clauses that name Orpheus and Amphion and the phrase ducere quo vellet. Conington's continuous passage restores those subjects and translates the complete sequence.

Reuse information

Project Gutenberg supplies a United States reuse statement; Conington died in 1869.

[68] Cicero, De oratore 2.36. J. S. Watson, Cicero on Oratory and Orators (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1860). Source 1

Baumgarten extracts Cicero's fivefold description of history and omits the governing question. Watson's complete sentence restores that syntax. Nuncia/nuntia is an orthographic variant.

Reuse information

Watson's translation was published in 1860 and is in the public domain. Attalus identifies the base translation and notes minor modernization of its online text.

[69] Cicero, De oratore 2.64. J. S. Watson, Cicero on Oratory and Orators (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1860). Source 1

Baumgarten changes Cicero's adverb aequabiliter to the adjective aequabili and ends before the contrast with forensic roughness and pointed sentences. Watson's selected clause follows the same boundary.

Reuse information

Watson's translation was published in 1860 and is in the public domain. Attalus identifies the base translation and notes minor modernization of its online text.

[70] Horace, Ars Poetica 84-85. John Conington, The Satires, Epistles, and Art of Poetry of Horace, Project Gutenberg eBook 5419. Source 1

Conington's third line supplies the Muse and lyre from Horace's preceding line 83, completing the grammar of the list. Baumgarten adds Hunc before pugilem and otherwise follows lines 84-85.

Reuse information

Project Gutenberg supplies a United States reuse statement; Conington died in 1869.

[71] Horace, Ars Poetica 131. John Conington, The Satires, Epistles, and Art of Poetry of Horace, Project Gutenberg eBook 5419. Source 1

Horace's si introduces conditions supplied in the following lines. Baumgarten omits si and presents the maxim categorically; Conington signals the omitted conditions with with some few precautions.

Reuse information

Project Gutenberg supplies a United States reuse statement; Conington died in 1869.

[72] Horace, Ars Poetica 133-135. John Conington, The Satires, Epistles, and Art of Poetry of Horace, Project Gutenberg eBook 5419. Source 1

Baumgarten omits Horace's fidus interpres and punctuates the remaining material as two sentences. Conington translates the complete three-line source passage and renders the contrast between translation and imitation idiomatically.

Reuse information

Project Gutenberg supplies a United States reuse statement; Conington died in 1869.

[73] Cicero, Topica 6. C. D. Yonge, The Treatises of M. T. Cicero, including Topica; historical translation transcribed by Attalus. Source 1

Baumgarten quotes only the two-word phrase inveniendi artem, which Yonge renders as the art of discovering arguments. The longer selected sentence supplies Cicero's governing syntax and the named discipline.

Reuse information

Yonge's nineteenth-century translation is in the public domain; Yonge died in 1891. Attalus identifies him as translator.

[74] the traditional seven-circumstance mnemonic quoted by Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologiae I-II, question 7, article 3. Fathers of the English Dominican Province, The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas, complete American edition; Project Gutenberg eBook 17897. Source 1

Baumgarten calls this a verse known even to boys but names no author. Aquinas attributes the seven circumstances to Cicero and quotes the mnemonic in its usual order. Baumgarten keeps all seven terms but rearranges them as who, by what aids, what, how, why, where, when; the selected historical translation follows Aquinas's source order.

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The English Dominican translation was published in the early twentieth century and is in the United States public domain; Project Gutenberg supplies a reuse statement.

[75] Martial, Epigrams 2.86.9-10. W. Y. Sellar and G. G. Ramsay, eds., Extracts from Martial (Edinburgh: James Thin, 1884), introduction, p. xxviii and note. Source 1

Baumgarten quotes Martial's two lines exactly apart from capitalization and punctuation. The historical edition gives the English in a footnote while discussing Martial's opposition to artificial literary display.

Reuse information

The edition was published in 1884. Sellar died in 1890 and Ramsay in 1921; the work is in the public domain.

[76] Horace, Ars Poetica 132 and 195. John Conington, The Satires, Epistles, and Art of Poetry of Horace, Project Gutenberg eBook 5419. Source 1

Baumgarten joins lines separated by more than sixty verses in Horace. He drops the conditional si from line 132 and detaches line 195 from the chorus whose intervening songs Horace regulates. The ellipsis in the English marks that large source gap rather than an omission within either selected couplet.

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Project Gutenberg supplies a United States reuse statement; Conington died in 1869.

[77] Juvenal, Satires 1.149-150, adapted. G. G. Ramsay, Juvenal and Persius (Loeb Classical Library 91; London: William Heinemann; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1918). Source 1

Only totos pande sinus is verbatim Juvenal. Baumgarten replaces Juvenal's preceding declaration and utere velis with his own vocant quia carbasa venti, preserving and extending the sailing metaphor. Ramsay's complete sentence therefore gives the source meaning behind both the retained words and Baumgarten's adaptation.

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Ramsay's translation was first published in 1918 and is in the United States public domain; Ramsay died in 1921. Wikisource links the historical scan.

[78] Virgil, Aeneid 4.562. Theodore C. Williams, The Aeneid of Virgil (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1910), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten omits Virgil's preceding demens and changes the question into a clause governed by his own ne. Williams places his rendering Senseless man after the selected question, so it is excluded here in keeping with Baumgarten's excerpt.

Reuse information

Williams's translation was published in 1910 and is in the United States public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[79] Catullus, Carmina 4.20-21. Leonard C. Smithers, prose translation in The Carmina of Gaius Valerius Catullus (London: Printed for the Translators, 1894), modernized by Perseus. Source 1

Baumgarten extracts the second half of Catullus's alternative and turns it into the apodosis of his own unreal condition. Smithers's sheets clarifies that pedem is the lower corner or sheet of a sail in this nautical context.

Reuse information

The underlying translation was published in 1894 and is in the public domain; Smithers died in 1907. The linked Perseus modernization is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

[80] Phaedrus, Fables 3, epilogue 6-7. Christopher Smart, The Fables of Phaedrus Translated into English Verse (London: G. Bell and Sons, 1913), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten changes Phaedrus's concessive Quamvis materiae tanta abundet copia to the declarative Materia tanta abundat copia. Smart's rhymed version preserves the source's concluding inversion between worker and work rather than Baumgarten's altered opening grammar.

Reuse information

Christopher Smart died in 1771, and the cited edition was published in 1913; the translation is in the public domain.

[81] Virgil, Aeneid 2.564. Theodore C. Williams, The Aeneid of Virgil (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1910), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten follows Virgil's wording exactly apart from punctuation and capitalization. Williams renders copia contextually as aid: the following source line says that all Aeneas's companions have departed.

Reuse information

Williams's translation was published in 1910 and is in the United States public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[82] Virgil, Eclogues 3.104-105. James Rhoades, The Poems of Vergil (London: Oxford University Press, 1921), Perseus Digital Library text. Source 1

Baumgarten quotes the answer-bearing portion of Damoetas's riddle but omits Dic, quibus in terris, the parenthetical promise, and the governing pateat. He also prints Tres/distat where the Virgil text has tris/pateat. Quintilian, Institutio oratoria 8.6.52, independently quotes the same Virgilian riddle and confirms the identification.

Reuse information

Rhoades's translation was published in 1921 and is in the United States public domain. The Perseus canonical repository supplies the digital source file.

[83] Horace, Ars Poetica 38-40. John Conington, The Satires, Epistles, and Art of Poetry of Horace, Project Gutenberg eBook 5419. Source 1

Horace directly addresses writers in the second-person plural: sumite, vestris, versate. Baumgarten recasts the imperative sequence as the infinitive sumere, changes vestris to suis, and retains the indirect questions about what the shoulders can bear. Humeri/umeri is an orthographic variant.

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Project Gutenberg supplies a United States reuse statement; Conington died in 1869.