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'''''An Essay on Man''''' is a poem published by [[Alexander Pope]] in [[1734 in poetry|1734]]. It is a rationalistic effort to use philosophy in order to "vindicate the ways of God to man" (l.16), a variation of [[John Milton]]'s claim in the opening lines of ''[[Paradise Lost]]'', that he will "justify the ways of God to men" (1.26). It is concerned with the natural order God has decreed for man. Because man cannot know God's purposes, he cannot complain about his position in the [[Great Chain of Being]] (ll.33-34) and must accept that "Whatever IS, is RIGHT" (l.292), a theme that was satirized by [[Voltaire]] in ''[[Candide]]'' (1759).<ref>[http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=0300106556 Candide, or Optimism]. Review of the Burton Raffel translation by the [[Yale]] UP.</ref> More than any other work, it popularized [[optimistic philosophy]] throughout England and the rest of Europe. |
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Pope's ''Essay on Man'' and ''Moral Epistles'' were designed to be the parts of a system of ethics which he wanted to express in poetry. ''Moral Epistles'' has been known under various other names including ''Ethic Epistles'' and ''[[Moral Essays]]''. |
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On its publication, ''An Essay on Man'' met with great admiration throughout Europe. Voltaire called it "the most beautiful, the most useful, the most sublime didactic poem ever written in any language".<ref>Voltaire, ''Lettres Philosophiques'', amended 1756 edition, cited in the Appendix (p.147) of ''Philosophical Letters (Letters Concerning the English Nation)'', Courier Dover Publications 2003, ISBN 0486426734, [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=iMZCfejJg9EC&lpg=PA147&ots=Mo29H5IRQe&dq=the%20most%20beautiful%2C%20the%20most%20useful%2C%20the%20most%20sublime%20didactic%20poem%20ever%20written%20in%20any%20language&pg=PA162#v=onepage&q=the%20most%20beautiful,%20the%20most%20useful,%20the%20most%20sublime%20didactic%20poem%20ever%20written%20in%20any%20language&f=false accessed on Google Books 2014-02-12]</ref> In 1756 [[Rousseau]] wrote to Voltaire admiring the poem and saying that it "softens my ills and brings me patience". Kant was fond of the poem and would recite long passages from it to his students.<ref>[http://books.google.co.in/books?id=klqFEFXnk0wC Harry M Solomon: ''The rape of the text: reading and misreading Pope's Essay on man''] on Google Books</ref> |
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Later however, Voltaire renounced his admiration for Pope's and [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz|Leibniz]]'s optimism and even wrote a novel, ''Candide'', as a satire on their philosophy of ethics. Rousseau also critiqued the work, questioning "Pope's uncritical assumption that there must be an unbroken chain of being all the way from inanimate matter up to God."<ref>{{cite book|title=Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Restless Genius|author=Leo Damrosch|publisher=HOughton Mifflin Company|year=2005}}</ref> |
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The essay, written in [[heroic couplets]], comprises four epistles. Pope began work on it in 1729, and had finished the first three by 1731. They appeared in early 1733, with the fourth epistle published the following year. The poem was originally published anonymously; Pope did not admit authorship until [[1735 in poetry|1735]]. |
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Pope reveals in his introductory statement, "The Design," that ''An Essay on Man'' was originally conceived as part of a longer philosophical poem, with four separate books. What we have today would comprise the first book. The second was to be a set of epistles on human reason, arts and sciences, human talent, as well as the use of learning, science, and wit "together with a satire against the misapplications of them." The third book would discuss politics, and the fourth book "private ethics" or "practical morality." Often quoted is the following passage, the first verse paragraph of the second book, which neatly summarizes some of the religious and humanistic tenets of the poem: |
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<blockquote>Know then thyself, presume not God to scan<br> |
<blockquote>Know then thyself, presume not God to scan<br> |
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Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd;<br> |
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd;<br> |
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The glory, jest and riddle of the world.<br></blockquote> |
The glory, jest and riddle of the world.<br></blockquote> |
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Pope says that man has learnt about Nature and God's creation by using science; science has given man power but man intoxicated by this power thinks that he is "imitating God". Pope uses the word "fool" to show how little he (man) knows in spite of the progress made by science. |
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== References == |
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* [http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/poet/263.html Selected Poetry of Alexander Pope], [http://rpo.library.utoronto.ca/display/index.cfm Representative Poetry Online], hosted by [[University of Toronto]] Libraries |
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== Notes == |
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<references /> |
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== External links == |
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{{wikisource}} |
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* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2428 Full text] at [[Project Gutenberg]] |
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* An introduction to the poem from a Hartwicke College professor: [http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/pope/man.html] |
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* [https://notes.utk.edu/Bio/greenberg.nsf/11b7b90a9fa8e19585256c76000ed30a/a41ea6f017abe5b485256db100676048?OpenDocument Pope- Essay on Man -complete text] |
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{{Alexander Pope}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Essay On Man}} |
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[[Category:1734 poems]] |
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[[Category:British poems]] |
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[[Category:Works by Alexander Pope]] |
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[[Category:Modern philosophical literature]] |
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[[Category:Ethics literature]] |
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Revision as of 18:50, 4 March 2014
Know then thyself, presume not God to scan
The proper study of Mankind is Man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle state,
A Being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest;
In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast;
In doubt his mind or body to prefer;
Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little, or too much;
Chaos of Thought and Passion, all confus'd;
Still by himself, abus'd or disabus'd;
Created half to rise and half to fall;
Great Lord of all things, yet a prey to all,
Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurl'd;
The glory, jest and riddle of the world.