This is a quote from a memoir by Dorothy Wordsworth, reflecting on a trip she took with two famous poets, her brother, William Wordsworth, and their similarly gifted companion, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. We sat upon a bench, placed for the sake of one of these views, whence we looked down upon the waterfall, and over the open country ... A lady and gentleman, more expeditious tourists than ourselves, came to the spot; they left us at the seat, and we found them again at another station above the Falls. Coleridge, who is always good-natured enough to enter into conversation with anybody whom he meets in his way, began to talk with the gentleman, who observed that it was a majestic waterfall. Coleridge was delighted with the accuracy of the epithet, particularly as he had been settling in his own mind the precise meaning of the words grand, majestic, sublime, etc., and had discussed the subject with William at some length the day before. “Yes, sir,” says Coleridge, “it is a maj...
There is often renewal of interest in Christianity around the holidays. Men like Kierkegaard and Kant had their own interests, preferences and motives when analyzing and evaluating religion generally. William James was no exception but he also adopted a more sub-specie detachment than did many others. When philosophers adopt interpretations of religious parable, scripture and thought, they of course leave their imprint on the subject. The imprints made may colour impressions of such thinkers, and, in most(?) instances, that was what the thinkers were aiming for. So, I wish all a Merry Christmas. Well, most anyway.
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