In 1729, when Jonathan Swift wanted to make people aware of the horrible poverty of the Irish, he chose the essay as his weapon and wrote A Modest Proposal. In that essay, he suggested, sarcastically, that the Irish should sell their children as food. His suggestions sounded vaguely practical and reasonable but really criticised the foolishness of those who ignored human values and relied only on scientific ideas. Such people had suggested, for example, that famine …showed first 75 words of 355 total…

…showed last 75 words of 355 total…