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NL888 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Is not strained?
1) Does "nor of sexual desire" mean "nor demeaning or reductive of the noble emotions of sexual desire"?
2) Does "is not strained" mean "is not to be obtained by coercion"?
Context:
Do not, for one moment, think of such Darwinizing as demeaning
or reductive of the noble emotions of compassion and generosity.
Nor of sexual desire. Sexual desire, when channelled through the
conduits of linguistic culture, emerges as great poetry and drama:
John Donne's love poems, say, or Romeo and Juliet. And of course
the same thing happens with the misfired redirection of kin- and
reciprocation-based compassion. Mercy to a debtor is, when seen
out of context, as un-Darwinian as adopting someone else's child:
The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath.
2) Does "is not strained" mean "is not to be obtained by coercion"?
Context:
Do not, for one moment, think of such Darwinizing as demeaning
or reductive of the noble emotions of compassion and generosity.
Nor of sexual desire. Sexual desire, when channelled through the
conduits of linguistic culture, emerges as great poetry and drama:
John Donne's love poems, say, or Romeo and Juliet. And of course
the same thing happens with the misfired redirection of kin- and
reciprocation-based compassion. Mercy to a debtor is, when seen
out of context, as un-Darwinian as adopting someone else's child:
The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath.
Top answer
NL888 1) Does "nor of sexual desire" mean "nor demeaning or reductive of the noble emotions of sexual desire"? Yes. OR simply, "nor demeaning or reductive of sexual desire".
- NL888 1) Does "nor of sexual desire" mean "nor demeaning or reductive of the noble emotions of sexual desire"?
- Yes.
- OR simply, "nor demeaning or reductive of sexual desire".
- Strictly speaking, it is an open question whether the author might have been including sexual desire among the noble emotions, or just listing it separately.
- It droppeth as the gentle rain from heavenUpon the place beneath.
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3 Answers
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NL8881) Does "nor of sexual desire" mean "nor demeaning or reductive of the noble emotions of sexual desire"?Yes. OR simply, "nor demeaning or reductive of sexual desire". Strictly speaking, it is an open question whether the author might have been including sexual desire among the noble emotions, or just listing it separately.
NL888
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Thanks.
I wonder what "the misfired redirection" means?
Does it mean "the redirection of the sexual desire (the driving force of ambition) is misused"?
I wonder what "the misfired redirection" means?
Does it mean "the redirection of the sexual desire (the driving force of ambition) is misused"?
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NL888I wonder what "the misfired redirection" means?And of course the same thing happens with the misfired redirection of kin- and reciprocation-based compassion.
I take "misfired redirection" to mean the direction of these kinds of compassion toward an unexpected end or purpose, that is, an end that would not have been predicted by Darwinian
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