You're right, Tom. But the problem with *my* understanding of the passage is that WE is connected to 'can only criticise'. Thus, who can only critise? (or am I getting like Rain Man in the 'who's who' scene?..... :-) Sara ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Gray" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Sunday, February 15, 2004 6:39 PM Subject: Re: Qua work of art.... > --- Nancy Gish <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > >> Your question is immensely refreshing. I referred > > to the "broad > > acceptance" of the "we" because it was simply not > > asked for about eight > > or nine decades. But it is fundamental: as you > > make clear, there is no > > referent and no way to establish one. > > > The polite sue of 'we' should also be considered as in > 'As we can see,'. To me this is just a polite way of > including the reader in the discussion. In my student > days, I ofter heard lecturers using the phrase 'As we > found last day'. The 'As we can see' and "As we > found' were very often hints that the topic was > important and that the student should spend whatever > time needed to understand it. I didn't see anything > pompous in that usage. > > __________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Finance: Get your refund fast by filing online. > http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html