That we can judge only with regard to our own
system, being ignorant of the relations of systems and things, v.
system, being ignorant of the relations of systems and things, v.
Pope - Essay on Man
It is
therefore in the anatomy of the Mind as in that of the Body; more good
will accrue to mankind by attending to the large, open, and perceptible
parts, than by studying too much such finer nerves and vessels, the
conformations and uses of which will for ever escape our observation. The
disputes are all upon these last, and, I will venture to say, they have
less sharpened the wits than the hearts of men against each other, and
have diminished the practice more than advanced the theory of Morality.
If I could flatter myself that this Essay has any merit, it is in
steering betwixt the extremes of doctrines seemingly opposite, in passing
over terms utterly unintelligible, and in forming a temperate yet not
inconsistent, and a short yet not imperfect system of Ethics.
This I might have done in prose, but I chose verse, and even rhyme, for
two reasons. The one will appear obvious; that principles, maxims, or
precepts so written, both strike the reader more strongly at first, and
are more easily retained by him afterwards: the other may seem odd, but
is true, I found I could express them more shortly this way than in prose
itself; and nothing is more certain, than that much of the force as well
as grace of arguments or instructions depends on their conciseness. I
was unable to treat this part of my subject more in detail, without
becoming dry and tedious; or more poetically, without sacrificing
perspicuity to ornament, without wandering from the precision, or
breaking the chain of reasoning: if any man can unite all these without
diminution of any of them I freely confess he will compass a thing above
my capacity.
What is now published is only to be considered as a general Map of Man,
marking out no more than the greater parts, their extent, their limits,
and their connection, and leaving the particular to be more fully
delineated in the charts which are to follow. Consequently, these
Epistles in their progress (if I have health and leisure to make any
progress) will be less dry, and more susceptible of poetical ornament. I
am here only opening the fountains, and clearing the passage. To deduce
the rivers, to follow them in their course, and to observe their effects,
may be a task more agreeable. P.
ARGUMENT OF EPISTLE I.
Of the Nature and State of Man, with respect to the Universe.
Of Man in the abstract. I.
That we can judge only with regard to our own
system, being ignorant of the relations of systems and things, v. 17, etc.
II. That Man is not to be deemed imperfect, but a being suited to his
place and rank in the Creation, agreeable to the general Order of Things,
and conformable to Ends and Relations to him unknown, v. 35, etc. III.
That it is partly upon his ignorance of future events, and partly upon
the hope of future state, that all his happiness in the present depends,
v. 77, etc. IV. The pride of aiming at more knowledge, and pretending to
more Perfection, the cause of Man's error and misery. The impiety of
putting himself in the place of God, and judging of the fitness or
unfitness, perfection or imperfection, justice or injustice of His
dispensations, v. 109, etc. V. The absurdity of conceiting himself the
final cause of the Creation, or expecting that perfection in the moral
world, which is not in the natural, v. 131, etc. VI.
therefore in the anatomy of the Mind as in that of the Body; more good
will accrue to mankind by attending to the large, open, and perceptible
parts, than by studying too much such finer nerves and vessels, the
conformations and uses of which will for ever escape our observation. The
disputes are all upon these last, and, I will venture to say, they have
less sharpened the wits than the hearts of men against each other, and
have diminished the practice more than advanced the theory of Morality.
If I could flatter myself that this Essay has any merit, it is in
steering betwixt the extremes of doctrines seemingly opposite, in passing
over terms utterly unintelligible, and in forming a temperate yet not
inconsistent, and a short yet not imperfect system of Ethics.
This I might have done in prose, but I chose verse, and even rhyme, for
two reasons. The one will appear obvious; that principles, maxims, or
precepts so written, both strike the reader more strongly at first, and
are more easily retained by him afterwards: the other may seem odd, but
is true, I found I could express them more shortly this way than in prose
itself; and nothing is more certain, than that much of the force as well
as grace of arguments or instructions depends on their conciseness. I
was unable to treat this part of my subject more in detail, without
becoming dry and tedious; or more poetically, without sacrificing
perspicuity to ornament, without wandering from the precision, or
breaking the chain of reasoning: if any man can unite all these without
diminution of any of them I freely confess he will compass a thing above
my capacity.
What is now published is only to be considered as a general Map of Man,
marking out no more than the greater parts, their extent, their limits,
and their connection, and leaving the particular to be more fully
delineated in the charts which are to follow. Consequently, these
Epistles in their progress (if I have health and leisure to make any
progress) will be less dry, and more susceptible of poetical ornament. I
am here only opening the fountains, and clearing the passage. To deduce
the rivers, to follow them in their course, and to observe their effects,
may be a task more agreeable. P.
ARGUMENT OF EPISTLE I.
Of the Nature and State of Man, with respect to the Universe.
Of Man in the abstract. I.
That we can judge only with regard to our own
system, being ignorant of the relations of systems and things, v. 17, etc.
II. That Man is not to be deemed imperfect, but a being suited to his
place and rank in the Creation, agreeable to the general Order of Things,
and conformable to Ends and Relations to him unknown, v. 35, etc. III.
That it is partly upon his ignorance of future events, and partly upon
the hope of future state, that all his happiness in the present depends,
v. 77, etc. IV. The pride of aiming at more knowledge, and pretending to
more Perfection, the cause of Man's error and misery. The impiety of
putting himself in the place of God, and judging of the fitness or
unfitness, perfection or imperfection, justice or injustice of His
dispensations, v. 109, etc. V. The absurdity of conceiting himself the
final cause of the Creation, or expecting that perfection in the moral
world, which is not in the natural, v. 131, etc. VI.
