Synthesized answer
G. B. Shaw's critique of biographical writing, which labels it an "impertinence" to write about individuals who have already written about themselves, particularly when done "worse or tell[ing] it wrong" [2], poses a challenge to Slosson's approach. Shaw suggests that such endeavors are only justifiable by an "irresistible charm of manner" [1].
Given Slosson's dedication acknowledging his son's incorporated thoughts and phrases, and his own role as a literary editor [1], Shaw's critique might prompt Slosson to consider whether his presentation of the "Six Major Prophets" is merely repeating what these men have already articulated, and if he is doing so effectively. The passages do not explicitly state how Slosson addresses this critique in his own writing, beyond the general preface about the motivation for writing the book [4].
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
← Six Major Prophets ( 1917 ) by Edwin Emery Slosson Preface → 284671 Six Major Prophets 1917 Edwin Emery Slosson SIX MAJOR PROPHETS Whoever dies without recognizing the prophet of his time dies the death of a pagan. Mohammedan proverb. SIX MAJOR PROPHETS BY EDWIN E. SLOSSON, M.S., Ph.D. LITERARY EDITOR OF "THE INDEPENDENT" ASSOCIATE IN THE COLUMBIA SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM AUTHOR OF " MAJOR PROPHETS OF TO-DAY ," ETC. BOSTON LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY 1917 Copyright, 1917, By Little, Brown, and Company. All rights reserved Published, April, 1917 Norwood Press Set up and electrotyped by J.…
t a man who has written books about himself is an impertinence which only an irresistible charm of manner can carry off. The unpardonable way of doing it, and the commonest, is to undertake to tell the public what a writer has already told them himself, and tell it worse or tell it wrong. G. B. SHAW. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1931. The longest-living author of this work died in 1929, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 96 years or less . This work…
rust this has not prevented me from giving a fair and sufficiently sympathetic presentation of each man's views in turn. My list of the "Twelve Major Prophets of To-day" consisted of the following names: Maurice Maeterlinck , Henri Bergson , Henri Poincaré , Elie Metchnikoff , Wilhelm Ostwald , Ernst Haeckel , George Bernard Shaw , Herbert George Wells , Gilbert Keith Chesterton , F. C. S. Schiller , John Dewey , and Rudolf Eucken . I had not taken nationality into consideration, but I found that I had chosen four from England, three from Germany, two from France, and one each from Belgium,…
← Six Major Prophets by Edwin Emery Slosson Preface Chapter 1 → 3110498 Six Major Prophets — Preface Edwin Emery Slosson PREFACE A few years ago it occurred to me that there were living on the same planet and at the same time as myself some interesting people whom I had never seen and did not know so much about as I should. Since they or I might die at any moment, I determined not to delay longer. So I prepared a list of twelve men who seemed to me most worth knowing, and then I set out to see them; not with the hope of becoming personally acquainted with them or even with the object of…
← Chapter 3 Six Major Prophets by Edwin Emery Slosson F. C. S. Schiller Chapter 5 → 284674 Six Major Prophets — F. C. S. Schiller Edwin Emery Slosson CHAPTER IV F. C. S. SCHILLER A British Pragmatist The world knows nothing of its greatest men, because by the time it knows something about them they have ceased to be the greatest. F. C. S. Schiller. A dozen years ago I happened upon the word "pragmatism", as it was printed, rather inappropriately, upon the slip cover of Santayana 's " Life of Reason ." Being a queer looking word and unknown to me, I started to find out what it meant and that…
More questions about this book
- Slosson describes his discovery of pragmatism as realizing he had been a pragmatist "all his life without knowing it." How would you explain pragmatism as Slosson seems to understand it, using his experiences in journalism and chemistry to illustrate its core principles to someone entirely unfamiliar with the philosophy?
- The text opens with a Mohammedan proverb emphasizing the recognition of contemporary "prophets," yet later presents F. C. S. Schiller's view that the world knows its greatest men only after they have ceased to be greatest. How might Slosson reconcile these two seemingly contradictory ideas when selecting and portraying his "Six Major Prophets," and what implicit criteria might he be using?
- Slosson asserts that the "pragmatic mode of thinking is universal and unquestioned" in science and implies its applicability to "politics, law, ethics, history." If you were to explain how pragmatic thinking would manifest in one of these non-scientific fields, drawing on Slosson's implied understanding, what would be its key characteristics, and what unique challenges or benefits might it present in that domain?
- Consider the collective impact of the dedication to Slosson's son, the Mohammedan proverb, and the G. B. Shaw quote as the opening elements of the book. What overarching tone or intellectual challenge do these elements establish for the reader, and how might they influence how one approaches the "prophets" Slosson introduces?