The thought of Plato, of Aristotle, and of the heroes of modern philosophy is ever proving anew its fructifying power. Nowhere do we find such instructive errors as in the sphere of philosophy, nowhere is the new so essentially a completion and development of the old, even though it
deem itself the whole and assume a hostile attitude toward its predecessors; nowhere is the inquiry so much more important than the final result
nowhere the categories "true and false" so inadequate. The spirit of the time and the spirit of the people, the individuality of the thinker, disposition,
will, fancy -- all these exert a far stronger influence on the development of philosophy, both by way of promotion and by way of hindrance, than in
any other department of thought. If a system gives classical expression to the thought of an epoch, a nation, or a great personality, if it seeks to
attack the world-riddle from a new direction, or brings us nearer its solution by important original conceptions, by a subtler or a simpler
comprehension of the problem, by a wider outlook or a deeper insight; it has accomplished more than it could have done by bringing forward a
number of indisputably correct principles.
(from History of Modern Philosophy by Richard Falckenberg)
Which device does the author use throughout the passage?
O 1. parallelism
O 2. rhetorical question
O 3. paradox
O 4. simile