Augustine: Earlier Writings (continued)
THE TEACHER 85 not been trifling in this conversation, though perhaps we have been amusing ourselves. But the game is not to be regarded as merely puerile, nor is it to be thought that only small or moderate advantages have been gained. And yet, if I say that there is a life eternally blessed, and that my desire is that God, who is ver)' truth, should bring us thither by steps suited to our poor abilities, I am afraid I shall appear ridiculous, because I set out on so long a journey with the consideration of signs and not of the rea Hties they signify. You will pardon me, therefore, iif I play wdth you to begin with, not for the sake of playing, but in order to exercise and sharpen our mental powers so that we may be able not merely to endure the heat and hght of the region where lies the blessed life, but also to love them. Ad.— Go on as you have begun, for I shall never think unworthy of attention anything you may think it necessary to say or to do.
22. Aug.—Let us then consider the other side of the problem, where signs signify not other signs but what we have agreed to call ".significables." And first tell me whether man is man. Ad.—Now I am not sure whether you are joking. Aug.—Why? Ad.—Because you think it necessary to ask me that question. Aug.—I dare say you would also suppose I was joking if I were to ask you whether the first syllable of that noun is ho and the second mo. Ad.—I certainly should. Aug.—But these two syllables together make homo. Do you agree? Ad.—Who could deny it? Aug.—Now I ask; do these two syllables together make you? Ad.—Of course not. But now I see your point. Aug.—You state it, then, so that I may not seem to be abusive. Ad.—You think the conclusion is that I am not a man. Aug.—Don't you agree, seeing you have agreed that all the premises are true from which this conclusion is reached? Ad.— I shall not tell you what I think until you tell me whether, in asking whether man is man, you meant these two syllables homo, or the thing they signify. Aug.—You tell me, rather, in what sense you understood my question. For if it is ambiguous you should have been careful and should not have replied until you were quite sure of the meaning of the question. ^4^.—The ambiguity would not prevent me from answering that "homo'' is ''homo'' in both senses. For these two syllables are nothing but these two syllables; and what they signify is exacdy what is signified by them, ^w.—All right. But why don't you understand in two senses not only the word ''homo" but aU the other words wc have used? ^^.—Have I not done so? Aug.—Tke my first question. If you had understood it to be nothing but a senes of