Literary notes about absolute (AI summary)
In literature the term "absolute" is used to evoke a sense of totality or unmitigated quality, functioning both as a precise descriptor and a philosophical abstraction. It appears to denote an extreme absence, as in an absolute lack of pleasure [1] or a state of absolute putrefaction [2], and it simultaneously intensifies traits, whether in describing a gentleman of various accomplishments [3] or absolute fairness of temper [4]. The word also carries metaphysical weight, pointing to complete unity or totality in philosophical discourse [5, 6], while in other contexts it emphasizes control or inevitability, such as absolute control over national affairs [7] or the absolute certainty of a situation [8]. Thus, "absolute" serves as a versatile qualifier that underscores both the intensity of human emotion and the finality of philosophical or societal conditions.
- But here was he, on this occasion, dull and forlorn, a solitary being, gazing at the lamp with an absolute lack of pleasure.
— from Hung Lou Meng, or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel, Book I by Xueqin Cao - What was my astonishment in discovering it to be in a state of absolute putrefaction!
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe - V.53 An absolute—a great showing: ] A finished gentleman, full of various accomplishments, of gentle manners, and very imposing appearance.
— from Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare - " She has a large, generous sympathy and absolute fairness of temper.
— from The Story of My Life by Helen Keller - What we have here said of the first cosmological idea—that of the absolute totality of quantity in phenomena—applies also to the others.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - Absolute unity brooks no degrees—as well might you claim absolute purity for a glass of water because it contains but a single little cholera-germ.
— from Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking by William James - Education, health, taxes, domestic affairs, all were under the absolute control of a few men who constituted the ruling board.
— from The International Jew : The World's Foremost Problem by Anonymous - It was a mighty risk, but against it was an absolute black certainty.
— from The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
