All Men Dream of Earthwomen, Noetic File 8.0 The Sign of the Flying Torch
All Men Dream of Earthwomen, Noetic File 8.0 The Sign of the Flying Torch, is now posted.
Noetic File 8.0: The Sign of the Flying Torch
This file contains the oldest canonical description of the First Unearthly Tree, predating the brief passage in Aoetian’s Analects by a vigesimal period, and the dream-sonnet adumbration in the Enchiridion of Vertumnus by a quinquagenarian.
The theme of the earthmadness is subtly expanded upon when the Narrator consults an Archivist of the Order. The Archivist’s dialog here uses the figures of apophasis, proslepsis, and irony.
Those scholars who question the authenticity of the passage based on the delicacy of the figure engage in what is merely the snobbery of the current times, who underestimate their own ancestors. Rather, the irony may be deliberately heavy-handed, meant for comic effect, as when the Archivist denies knowing Amphitricia.
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
