Synthesized answer
Slosson's approach to reconciling the Mohammedan proverb about recognizing contemporary prophets with F. C. S. Schiller's view on recognizing great men only after their prime is not explicitly detailed. However, the passages suggest that Slosson aimed to present "Six Major Prophets" who were "living on the same planet and at the same time as myself" and who he felt were "most worth knowing" [3]. He also states he gave a "fair and sufficiently sympathetic presentation of each man's views" [2]. This implies he sought to identify and highlight individuals he believed were currently significant, potentially offering a way to recognize contemporary "prophets" even if their ultimate greatness might be confirmed later.
The implicit criteria Slosson might be using for selecting his "Six Major Prophets" can be inferred from his description of his "Twelve Major Prophets of To-day." These twelve included men from England, Germany, France, Belgium, Russia, and the United States [2]. Their professions spanned philosophy, science (including mathematics, medicine, zoology, and chemistry), and letters (authors of novels, dramas, or essays) [2]. The selection process involved Slosson making a…
Synthesized from the book passages below. Chat with the book on Feynman for follow-up.
From the book
← 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…
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…
← 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.…
osite. Yet the existing practice is largely due to unintentional stupidity, and failure to discover ability soon enough. Now to the individual this system brings compensation, if he lives long enough, because he continues to be rewarded for work he has done long ago, and even is no longer capable of doing, and is eventually raised to the status of a "grand old man" whom ancient institutions delight to honour, by dint of sheer longevity. But eugenically this social hysteresis , this delay in recompensing merit, has a fatal effect. It renders the capable, ambitious and rising members of the…
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?
- G. B. Shaw's quote critiques the "impertinence" of writing about individuals who have already written about themselves. Given Slosson's dedication acknowledging his son's incorporated thoughts and his own role as a literary editor, how might this critique challenge or inform Slosson's own approach to biographical writing in "Six Major Prophets"?
- 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?