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Contraposition Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
so far as
What does 'so far as' mean?
So far as you are wholly concentrated on bringing about a certain result, clearly the quicker and easier it is brought about the better. Your resolve to secure a sufficiency of food for yourself and your family will induce you to spend weary days in tilling the ground and tending livestock; but if Nature provided food and meat in abundance ready for the table, you would thank Nature for sparing you much labour and consider yourself so much the better off. An executed purpose, in short, is a transaction in which the time and energy spent on the execution are balanced against the resulting assets, and the ideal case is one in which the former approximates to zero and the latter to infinity. Purpose, then, justifies theefforts it exacts only conditionally, by their fruits.
J.L. Stocks, "The Limits of Purpose"
As a learner, not a native, 'so far as' is in many cases very difficult to understand about what it means in context although my having consulted many dictionaries. Many questions from learners about 'so far as', 'in so far as' are answered by native helpers and native teachers with 'to the extent that' but it is of little help to learners, I think.
So far as you are wholly concentrated on bringing about a certain result, clearly the quicker and easier it is brought about the better. Your resolve to secure a sufficiency of food for yourself and your family will induce you to spend weary days in tilling the ground and tending livestock; but if Nature provided food and meat in abundance ready for the table, you would thank Nature for sparing you much labour and consider yourself so much the better off. An executed purpose, in short, is a transaction in which the time and energy spent on the execution are balanced against the resulting assets, and the ideal case is one in which the former approximates to zero and the latter to infinity. Purpose, then, justifies theefforts it exacts only conditionally, by their fruits.
J.L. Stocks, "The Limits of Purpose"
As a learner, not a native, 'so far as' is in many cases very difficult to understand about what it means in context although my having consulted many dictionaries. Many questions from learners about 'so far as', 'in so far as' are answered by native helpers and native teachers with 'to the extent that' but it is of little help to learners, I think.
Top answer
Translating the phrase "so far as" to mean "to the degree that" or "to the extent that" should work in most cases. But you do not find that helpful? In the sentence you quote, you could also replace the "so far as" with the phrase "The more" The more So far as you are wholly concentrated on bringing about a certain result, clearly the quicker and easier it is brought about the better.
- Translating the phrase "so far as" to mean "to the degree that" or "to the extent that" should work in most cases.
- But you do not find that helpful?
- In the sentence you quote, you could also replace the "so far as" with the phrase "The more" The more So far as you are wholly concentrated on bringing about a certain result, clearly the quicker and easier it is brought about the better.
- (His wording, I think, may hide the structure of the sentence.
- ) Another way of thinking about "so far as" is to think of it as talking about distance traveled (even if it is mental distance).
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1 Answers
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Translating the phrase "so far as" to mean "to the degree that" or "to the extent that" should work in most cases. But you do not find that helpful?
In the sentence you quote, you could also replace the "so far as" with the phrase "The more"
The moreSo far as you are wholly concentrated on bringing about a certain result, clearly the quicker and easier it is broug
In the sentence you quote, you could also replace the "so far as" with the phrase "The more"
The more
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