ABSTRACT
In his fourth lecture, Root focuses upon ‘recognizable continuity’, and by this he means more than development in a straight line. ‘Continuity’, says Root, ‘involves deep and multiple relationships.’ Characterizing these relationships as ‘constellations’, he argues for diversity in relation to the given, advocating for the openness of tradition. Questions of history and interpretation then come to the fore, with Root identifying various difficulties. In the end, however, Root thinks tradition itself a safeguard, ‘a kind of control – a set of limits’. This is not to say that Root means to ‘fix the boundaries’. He most emphatically does not, and he is clear that the inheriting of tradition – ‘the given’ – will not be an easy task. It will, he says, ‘involve much labour indeed’.
