Trad Philosopher

This article is a workshop, not a sermon. Below you will find — in order — every formatting element this site supports, each labeled so you can see how it renders.

A Header at Level Two

The H2 above is the section break. It should sit slightly larger than the body, with its own breathing room.

A Header at Level Three

H3 is the subsection. Quieter than H2, but still distinct.

A Header at Level Four

H4 is the smallest titled break — used sparingly.

Bold below: the bold word stands forward.

Italic below: the italic word leans, slightly aged.

Bold-italic below: the strong leaning word.

Inline code below: here is a fragment of inline code in monospace, set close to the line.

Code block below:

def recollect(soul):
    while soul.is_restless:
        soul.attend()
    return soul.form

Blockquote below (cited):

The form of the world is not given all at once; it must be gathered, slowly, by the patient eye.

— Sylvanus of Ravenna (fictional), On Patience, III.

Nested unordered list below:

• The first labor is attention.
• Attention is not concentration.
• Attention is not anxiety.
• The second labor is memory.
• Memory is not nostalgia.
• Memory is form-recovery in time.
• The third labor is hope.

Ordered list below:

1. Read.
2. Walk.
3. Write — but only what you have read and walked.
4. Sleep.

An external link below:

The Internet Archive’s text collection has, on most evenings, what the local library does not.

A horizontal rule below:

Em-dashes and en-dashes below: the em-dash — like this — is a sentence-shaper; the en-dash – like this – marks ranges (pp. 12–17).

Smart quotes below: he said, “I have been reading,” and meant it the way one means anything that takes years.

A footnote below: the discipline of attention is, in its highest form, a kind of prayer.¹ It is not the same as concentration, which is a feat of the will alone.²

A table below:

Abbreviation below (used naturally): the early Fathers — esp. Augustine — held that the soul is, in some real sense, a capacity for God. (i.e., a form ordered toward an Other.)

Superscript below: Boethius wrote his last work in the 6^th century, and was read continuously through the 14^th.

That is the inventory. If you are reading this on the site, every element above should be visually distinct, legibly hierarchical, and at home in the terminal aesthetic.