What's the meaning of "と言いうるほどに"?


I'm having some trouble understanding the "と言いうるほどに" grammar in the following
excerpt from Natsume Soseki's _Sanshiro_. Does this mean something like: "to
the point of being able to say (danger, danger, while being in a safe
position)"?

> つまりあぶないあぶないと言いうるほどに、自分はあぶなくない地位に立っていれば、あんな男にもなれるだろう




~と言いうるほどに、closest meaning is "As I can say that~" うる express possibility.
These expression by Soseki is not used frequently for modern Japanese language
but sometime used in conversation.




Yes, あぶないと言いうるほどに自分はあぶなくない地位に立っている just means "to stay in a safety zone to the
point where he can say it's dangerous". You seem to understand the grammar
already.

The implication in this context is that someone who innocently says "It's
dangerous (so don't do it)" is someone who is an irresponsible bystander. If
you are truly involved in an actual trouble, you will not say such a thing
because the trouble is already unavoidable. That's why Sanshiro thought the
man was like a 批評家; someone who only criticizes others from a comfort zone.

