Quotation
Last reviewed:
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
Aristotle · Aristotelianism · Ancient · modern, not ancient
What does it mean?
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. The sentence is not in the Nicomachean Ethics or anywhere else in the corpus. A real remark, at Ethics I.3, says an educated person looks for only as much precision as the subject allows. The two thoughts are not the same. A rival reading says the fake praises a real virtue, intellectual patience, so the false parent is a harmless sponsor. The virtue can be practised without the sponsor.
Did Aristotle really say this?
The library’s label is Misattributed. This sentence is not in the Nicomachean Ethics or anywhere else in the Aristotelian corpus. A real remark of his, at Ethics I.3, is that an educated person looks for only as much precision as the subject allows. The two thoughts are not the same.
Where it comes from
No known passage in Aristotle
Approximate date: modern, not ancient.
How to use it
Restate a view you reject, in a seminar in Edinburgh, until its author would recognise it. Then cite yourself, or cite no one, rather than Aristotle. The skill is worth having. The quotation marks are the part that fails.
A mindset reading
A noble-sounding line with no source is a rumour. Admiration is not a reference. The more the line flatters the reader's self-image as educated, the less the reader checks.
Understand the philosophy
Aristotle's actual remark about precision is a warning against demanding geometry from ethics. That is a harder, less flattering lesson than the fake, which is why the fake travels faster.
- knowledge
- mind
FAQ
What does it mean?
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. The sentence is not in the Nicomachean Ethics or anywhere else in the corpus. A real remark, at Ethics I.3, says an educated person looks for only as much precision as the subject allows. The two thoughts are not the same. A rival reading says the fake praises a real virtue, intellectual patience, so the false parent is a harmless sponsor. The virtue can be practised without the sponsor.
Did Aristotle really say this?
Misattributed. This sentence is not in the Nicomachean Ethics or anywhere else in the Aristotelian corpus. A real remark of his, at Ethics I.3, is that an educated person looks for only as much precision as the subject allows. The two thoughts are not the same.
Which work is it in?
No known passage in Aristotle Approximate date: modern, not ancient.