Literary notes about affirmation (AI summary)
In literature, "affirmation" is often employed to signal more than a mere agreement—it becomes a central tool to explore philosophical inquiry, legal formality, and emotional expression. Philosophers like Spinoza and Kant use the term to delve into the nature of ideas and judgments, considering whether affirmation is inherent in thought or whether it requires an external reference, as seen in discussions of idea content and logical structure ([1], [2], [3]). In legal and ritualistic contexts, affirmation serves as a formal alternative to oaths, binding individuals by their declarations of truth or allegiance ([4], [5], [6]). Meanwhile, literary works use affirmation to convey the vigor of belief and personal identity; it can be the expressive nod that encapsulates moral victory or the poetic assertion of existence, as reflected in narrative moments that range from the palpable energy of a character's declaration to the broader societal and existential implications of affirming life itself ([7], [8], [9]).
- We must inquire, I say, whether there is in the mind any affirmation or negation beyond that, which the idea, in so far as it is an idea, involves.
— from Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza - Therefore, this affirmation can neither be nor be conceived, without the idea of a triangle.
— from Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza - Now a negation cannot be cogitated as determined, without cogitating at the same time the opposite affirmation.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant - This oath or affirmation shall be administered by the President of the Senate for the time being in the presence of both Houses of the Legislature.
— from The Journal of the Debates in the Convention which Framed the Constitution of the United States, May-September 1787. Volume 1 by United States. Constitutional Convention (1787) - Affida′vit, a written statement of facts upon oath or affirmation.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. A to Amide by Various - “You say, you are a Protestant,” said the clerk; “make the sign of the cross with your finger, so, and swear upon it to that affirmation.”
— from The Adventures of Roderick Random by T. Smollett - " She had never heard him speak with such energy of affirmation.
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - It was an affirmation, a moral victory paid for by innumerable defeats, by abominable terrors, by abominable satisfactions.
— from Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - Art is essentially the affirmation, the blessing, and the deification of existence."
— from Nietzsche and Art by Anthony M. (Anthony Mario) Ludovici
