Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/10/30

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Subject: [Leica] Re: How many fairies are dancing on the head of a pin?
From: Jim Brick <jim@brick.org>
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 17:48:15 -0800
References: <ae.c7f4b4e.272f5983@aol.com>

At 04:22 PM 10/30/00 -0800, Mark Rabiner wrote:
>
>What does that expression mean anyhew?
>"How many fairies are dancing on the head of a pin?" he asked Cottingley
>How did that expression come about?
>somebody was arguing with somebody.
>Was in Sir Arthur Canon Doyle? Harry Houdini? Albert Einstein? Sir Eastman
Kodak?
>
>Mark Rabiner Esq.

Aquinas wrote several ponderous philosophical tomes, the most famous of which
went by the awe-inspiring title Summa Theologica, "summary of theology." It
contained, among other things, several dozen propositions on the nature of
angels, which Thomas attempted to work out by process of pure reason. The
results were pretty tortured, and to the hipper-than-thou know-it-alls of the
Enlightenment (i.e., D'Israeli's day), they seemed a classic example of good
brainpower put to nonsensical ends.

For example, D'Israeli wrote, "Aquinas could gravely debate, Whether Christ
was
not an hermaphrodite [and] whether there are excrements in Paradise." He might
also have mentioned such Thomistic puzzlers as whether the hair and nails will
grow following the Resurrection, and whether or not said Resurrection will
take
place at night.

D'Israeli goes on to say, "The reader desirous of being merry with Aquinas's
angels may find them in Martinus Scriblerus, in Ch. VII who inquires if angels
pass from one extreme to another without going through the middle? And if
angels know things more clearly in a morning? How many angels can dance on the
point of a very fine needle, without jostling one another?"


From somewhere on the Internet...

In reply to: Message from Krechtz@aol.com (Re: [Leica] Film megabytes and some curious contradictions)