Is this sentence, containing "struck upon", grammatically wrong?

Question

This is the sentence:

The purpose of this paper, however, is not to pass any serious criticism upon Pragmatism, which indeed is superfluous, but to point out the resemblance which has struck upon me between this popular philosophy and a sort of mentality satirised in a popular novel.

I think this sentence is grammatically wrong, because the idiom "struck upon" is used incorrectly and that made the sentence inapprehensible. Am I right?

Andrew Leach · Answer

The grammar is indeed wrong. A preposition introduces an indirect object.

I leapt upon the bed.
He hit the ball into the room.

Some verbs change their meaning with a preposition.

He hit me.
He hit on me.

Strike needs a direct object, strike me (or "struck me" ). Strike upon me is at best a pleonasm and at worst ungrammatical. However, it's understandable.

Greybeard · Answer

but to point out the resemblance which has struck upon me between this popular philosophy and a sort of mentality satirised in a popular novel.

The preposition "upon" must be omitted:
to strike (one/someone)
OED

64. transitive. Of a thought, an idea: To come into the mind of, occur to (a person). Frequently in the phrase it strikes (or it struck) me that —.
1827   W. Scott Highland Widow v   The first idea that struck him was, that the passenger belonged to his own corps.

MW:

strike on/upon phrasal verb
: to find or discover (something) especially suddenly
He struck on an idea for his novel.
They struck upon a salt mine.

Is this sentence, containing "struck upon", grammatically wrong?

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