Literary notes about propound (AI summary)
The term "propound" has long been employed in literature as a formal way to introduce or set forth theories, ideas, or proposals for consideration. In classical texts like Plato’s dialogues [1, 2] and later philosophical works by Hobbes [3], the word conveys the act of presenting a notion with deliberation and authority. Similarly, in religious and allegorical narratives such as Bunyan’s works [4, 5, 6], it is used to mark the moment when an idea or ideal is offered up for debate or acceptance. Authors in varied genres—ranging from Whitman’s reflective prose [7] and Wagner’s revolutionary discussions [8] to Chesterton’s critiques [9, 10] and even to the playful puzzles in Dudeney’s work [11]—employ "propound" to invite their audience into a contemplative dialogue. Meanwhile, figures like Santayana [12], Freud [13], and Shaw [14] use the term to denote the structured presentation of complex arguments, underscoring its enduring role as a vehicle for intellectual and rhetorical inquiry throughout literary history.
- ‘I do not wonder at your being ashamed to propound such a fiction.’
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato - 'I do not wonder at your being ashamed to propound such a fiction.'
— from The Republic by Plato - Neverthelesse, I may propound such things to the consideration of more learned Divines, as the text it selfe suggesteth.
— from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes - Three things let me propound; then I submit To those that are my betters, as is fit.
— from The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to that which is to come by John Bunyan - Not a step further, unless you will do in what I propound as we.
— from The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to that which is to come by John Bunyan - Well, if you please, propound another sign how this work of grace discovereth itself where it is.
— from The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to that which is to come by John Bunyan - If anybody cares to know what I think—and have long thought and avow'd—about them, I am entirely willing to propound.
— from Complete Prose Works by Walt Whitman - In these articles I meant to propound my ideas (in my revolutionary way) on the subject of modern art in its relation to society.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner - For owing to that historic fallacy with which I have just dealt, numbers of readers will expect me, when I propound an ideal, to propound a new ideal.
— from What's Wrong with the World by G. K. Chesterton - For owing to that historic fallacy with which I have just dealt, numbers of readers will expect me, when I propound an ideal, to propound a new ideal.
— from What's Wrong with the World by G. K. Chesterton - Another person got a wrong answer to the following little puzzle which I heard him propound: "A man placed three sovereigns and one shilling in a bag.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney - If it be true that matter is sinful, the logic of this truth is far from being what the fanatics imagine who commonly propound it.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana - We may, to be sure, propound the question: what forces the psychological activity during sleep to such regression?
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud - You propound a certain social substance, sexual attraction to wit, for dramatic distillation; and I distil it for you.
— from Man and Superman: A Comedy and a Philosophy by Bernard Shaw