The Dogmatist
Schools inspector Edmond Holmes expressed frustration with those who think that society at large owes them unthinking obedience.
1911
King George V 1910-1936
Schools inspector Edmond Holmes expressed frustration with those who think that society at large owes them unthinking obedience.
1911
King George V 1910-1936
‘Dogma’ is merely a Greek word meaning ‘teaching,’ but the word has acquired a negative connotation, associated with narrow-mindedness and invincible ignorance. However, the jibe is often undeserved. A dogmatist is not the man who believes passionately that other people are dangerously wrong, and sets himself apart from them; as Edmond Holmes said, he is the man who sets himself over them.
THE dogmatist is one who says to another, “Such and such a thing seems good to me; therefore it must seem good to you; in other words, you must practise it. Such and such a thing seems true to me; therefore it must seem true to you; in other words, you must believe it. Such and such a thing seems beautiful to me; therefore it must seem beautiful to you; in other words, you must admire it. Such and such a thing seems desirable to me; therefore it must seem desirable to you; in other words, you must pursue it. Such and such a thing seems right to me; therefore it must seem right to you; in other words, you must do it.” Stated more briefly, the dogmatic attitude amounts to this: “My part is to lay down the law and issue orders and directions. Your part is to obey these and carry them out.”
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.