Strona 236 z 1391

Good is what pleases him, evil what he dislikes; truth and beauty

are determined only by the taste of the brute. Such is the

Sophist's wisdom, and such is the condition of those who make

public opinion the test of truth, whether in art or in morals.

The curse is laid upon them of being and doing what it approves,

and when they attempt first principles the failure is ludicrous.

Think of all this and ask yourself whether the world is more

likely to be a believer in the unity of the idea, or in the

multiplicity of phenomena. And the world if not a believer in the

idea cannot be a philosopher, and must therefore be a persecutor

of philosophers. There is another evil:-the world does not like

to lose the gifted nature, and so they flatter the young

(Alcibiades) into a magnificent opinion of his own capacity; the

tall, proper youth begins to expand, and is dreaming of kingdoms

and empires.