On 2010-06-30, at 12:04 AM, Joseph Esposito wrote:
> No comment about the Royal Society's practices, but perhaps a
> listmember can assist in the origin of the phrase "the side of
> the angels." My understanding is that the phrase was uttered by
> Benjamin Disraeli in a speech in which he challenged Darwin's
> theory (law?) of evolution. To be on the side of the angels was
> to oppose the idea that people descended from apes. To be on the
> side of the angels thus means to oppose science.
>
> If I have my history wrong, I would like to be corrected.
>
> If I am correct, however, it would be more appropriate for
> Professor Harnad to say that the Royal Society was on the side of
> the apes.
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/on+the+side+of+the+angels
"on the side of the angels"
supporting what is kind, right, or good
"She was on the side of the angels even though it was neither profitable nor popular."
See also: angel, side
Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006. Reproduced with permission.
Joseph's etymology for the idiom may or may not be right. (I rather suspect the idiom pre-dated Darwin.)
That said, I'd be only to happy to see a green policy on Open Access self-archiving as being on the side of our fellow-hominids, the apes!
I am right now attending a summer institute on the origins of language --
http://www.summer10.isc.uqam.ca/page/programme.php -- and happily supporting the hypothesis that language created our "Cognitive Commons, "and could never even have arisen, let alone have conferred its untold mutual benefits on our species, had we, from the outset, clammed up rather than spoken (or gestured, rather) freely, for all to see and hear... (Paid consultations, keynotes and how-to books came only much later.)
Poynder, R. (2007) From Glottogenesis to the Category Commons. The Basement Interviews.
http://ia361300.us.archive.org/13/items/The_Basement_Interviews/Stevan_Harnad_Interview.pdf
Received on Wed Jun 30 2010 - 13:09:39 BST