Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[syoshioka99]

The civilized man is distinguished from the savage mainly by prudence, or, to use a slightly wider term, forethought. He is willing to endure present pains for the sake of future pleasures, even if the future pleasures are rather distant. This habit began to be important with the rise of agriculture; no animal and no savage would work in the spring in order to have food next winter, except for a few purely instinctive forms of action, such as bees making honey or squirrels burying nuts. In these cases, there is no forethought; there is a direct impulse to an act which is
obviously going to prove useful later on. True forethought only arises when a man does something towards which no impulse urges him, because his reason tells him that he will profit by it at some future date. Hunting requires no forethought, because it is pleasurable; but tilling the soil is labour, and cannot be done from instinctive impulse.

(question) I don't understand "True forethought only arises when a man does something towards which no impulse urges him," What does it actually mean? Can you restate it? I especially have no clue what " something toward which no impulse urges him"???? What is it???

Satoru

Japan

[merryenglish]

Satoru,

Men are really only using their intellectual reason when they consider the result of their present action in the future, not just a reflex that they do automatically with no thought.

[CP]

This is the same as http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/student/viewtopic.php?p=80394&highlight=#80394
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