Guest guest Posted November 9, 2002 Report Share Posted November 9, 2002 > I > learned yesterday that it was a common tactic to write things with cryptic or > mixed> meanings in classical times. It wa a sign of intelligence, but that > leaves us forever in limbo on these issues. We ride on the backs of precedent in > TC , but in this case, the precedents are diverse and contradictory, so > all we can do is apply them in clinic and see what happens. Maybe " erudition " rather than " intelligence? " Older literature served as a database of references for newer literature (as well as for borrowing authority from the ancients). For those who knew the literature, phrases could stand for the passages the phrase referenced rather than just the explicit meaning of the phrase, roughly like footnotes or references in our formal literature today. It was the reader's familiarity with the literature as a whole that determined how much they could understand. While there were certainly diverse opinions, these were often ordered as " schools of thought " in which a shared set of ideas provided definition and explanation for those who understood a particular school's foundations. Bob bob Paradigm Publications www.paradigm-pubs.com 44 Linden Street Robert L. Felt Brookline MA 02445 617-738-4664 --- [This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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