Polupragmosune

Peter J. Leithart, October 02, 2003

Every great civilization has some equivalent of what the fifth-century (BC) Athenians called polupragmosune. As defined by William Arrowsmith, that word "connotes energy, enterprise, daring, ingenuity, originality, and curiosity; negatively it means restless instability, discontent with one's lot, persistent and pointless busyness, meddling interference, and mischievous love of novelty." This is a wonderful description of Americans (at our best), 19th-century Brits, early medieval monks, first-century apostles.