In particular, Lovecraft seems intellectually in lockstep with David Hume, who was equally skeptical about humankind’s quest for knowledge. Image from survival horror video game Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth (2005)Īt the same time, the line speaks to a philosophical tradition that Lovecraft is aligned with, namely, the empiricist tradition, which is a theory that posits our knowledge of things comes from the senses. And on the other hand, it gives this idea a cosmic potency by appealing to the infinite and humankind’s place within the larger scheme of the universe. The most pertinent line that encapsulates these twin qualities comes from the following quote within the story’s opening: “We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.” On the one hand, the line embodies the cautionary trope that exists as an undercurrent within horror fiction, i.e., not venturing to a particular location.
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