[Xmca-l] Re: Где то́нко — там и рвётся

[Ulvi İçil]

And

"Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man"

A incredibly fascinating title for a book!!



On 9 January 2016 at 16:49, White, Phillip <Phillip.White@ucdenver.edu>
wrote:

> 'It is clearly a literal fact that a chain is only as strong as its
> weakest link. The conversion of that notion into a figurative phrase was
> established in the language by the 18th century. Thomas Reid's Essays on
> the Intellectual Powers of Man, 1786, included this line:
>
> '"In every chain of reasoning, the evidence of the last conclusion can be
> no greater than that of the weakest link of the chain, whatever may be the
> strength of the rest."'
>
> http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-weakest-link.html
>
> phillip
>
> ________________________________________
> From: xmca-l-bounces+phillip.white=ucdenver.edu@mailman.ucsd.edu
> <xmca-l-bounces+phillip.white=ucdenver.edu@mailman.ucsd.edu> on behalf of
> Annalisa Aguilar <annalisa@unm.edu>
> Sent: Friday, January 8, 2016 9:56 PM
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Где то́нко — там и рвётся
>
> Hello Ulvi,
>
> I did a search and the intertubes tell me it is a quote by William James
> (1842-1910):
> Of course most of the websites are nothing official, but there were a few
> sites stating it. Marxist.org is the only place where it states it as
> something Lenin said, which was published in 1917.
>
> The William James wikipage is here:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James
>
> I have no way to know if James is the first person to use it. But I
> thought I'd offer that to you for what it is worth.
>
> It's entirely possible that in any culture that possessed the technology
> for chains such a saying could exist.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Annalisa
>
>
> ________________________________________
> From: xmca-l-bounces+annalisa=unm.edu@mailman.ucsd.edu
> <xmca-l-bounces+annalisa=unm.edu@mailman.ucsd.edu> on behalf of Ulvi İçil
> <ulvi.icil@gmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, January 08, 2016 6:11 PM
> To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
> Subject: [Xmca-l]       Где то́нко — там и рвётся
>
> Thus we may justly quote the Russian proverb: “The chain is no stronger
> than its weakest link.” (Ilyenkov)
>
> Can anyone kindly confirm that this is not an aphorism by any philosopher,
> politician, like Lenin or Trotsky, but it is, as Ilyenkov says it, in fact,
> a proverb.
>
> Up to now, I though it was rather a theoretical aphorism, in the context of
> (capitalist) imperialism, like "Russia is a weak link of the imperialist
> chain".
>
> I do not know Russian, but the wording in Russian makes me think it is a
> proverb rather than an aphorism.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Ulvi
>
> P.S. I think that, even if it is a proverb, and as such, it should have
> supported immensely a political perspective to detach Russia from the
> imperialist chain via a revolution.
>
>