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At this point a working definition of idea is in order, although our first definition will have to be qualified somewhat as we proceed.

The term idea refers to our more reflective or thoughtful consciousness as opposed to the immediacies of sensuous or emotional experience.

It is through such reflection that literature approaches philosophy.

An idea, let us say, may be roughly defined as a theme or topic with which our reflection may be concerned.

In this essay, we are, along with most historians, interested in the more general or more inclusive ideas, that are so to speak `` writ large '' in history of literature where they recur continually.

Outstanding among these is the idea of human nature itself, including the many definitions that have been advanced over the centuries ; ;

also secondary notions such as the perfectibility of man, the depravity of man, and the dignity of man.

One might, indeed, argue that the history of ideas, in so far as it includes the literatures, must center on characterizations of human nature and that the great periods of literary achievement may be distinguished from one another by reference to the images of human nature that they succeed in fashioning.