Search

Philosophers of literature have neglected the short story. I argue that this neglect is unwarranted. The short story raises interesting philosophical questions that deserve attention. If philosophers only ever focused on one form of narrative prose—the novel—they would end up with a distorted picture of literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plato lends expression to an Axial Age understanding of transcendence: a philosopher, if virtuous, can be released from bodily and temporal existence. Virginia Woolf lends expression to a Romantic or Modernist understanding of transcendence: an artist, if gifted, can be released from the cramped condition of ordinary existence. In this essay, borrowing a concept from Charles Taylor, I argue that Plato and Woolf show us what an immanent transcendence involves: the reach of a soul transformed by an ideal or a vision it lives by. In Plato, in Woolf, what is at stake is poise, openness of mind, largeness of perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Camus is defined by many as an absurdist philosopher of revolt. The Plague, however, shows him working rigorously through a well-known division between ancient (Aristotelian) and modern (Kantian) ethics concerning the relation of reason, feeling, and happiness. Kant and Aristotle would agree, however, in their judgment of many characters and actions in The Plague : the novel provides realistic insights into a philosophical agreement between these supposed oppositions. In particular, both philosophers would agree concerning the relative goodness and relative happiness of Joseph Grand and Raymond Rambert. The illustration of this agreement proves Camus is valorizing a traditional ethic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Philosophers discussing lyric poetry often focus on first personal expression as a mark of the "lyric," which has resulted in a narrow characterization of the nature of intimacy in lyric poetry that focuses on the individual poet, poetic voice, or reader. In this article, I highlight a valuable way in which some works of lyric poetry can engage us in a kind of intimate relationship that connects the reader with the voice of the poem through the use of the second person. In illustrating my claims, I focus on Claudia Rankine's collection of poems Citizen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout his career Oscar Wilde battled his contemporaries' tendency to look at literary works through the lens of the author. He held that the practice of reading for the author misses the point of why we should turn to literature in the first place, and that it runs into a number of ethical, methodological, and metaphysical problems. Here I reconstruct Wilde's position from his various pronouncements in his essays, reviews, letters, and fiction, and argue that the ideal that emerges of letting the work speak for itself should still be taken seriously by philosophers and scholars of literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even when uttered with the best of intentions, an apology pursues contradictory goals: as a confession of guilt it invites condemnation, but as a petition for forgiveness it seeks to soften condemnation. Some philosophers have tried to clean up this illocutionary messiness by defining apology strictly as either moral acknowledgment or as an instrumental means to achieving pardon. Taking revenge tragedy as a literary genre that thematizes the refusal to forgive or forget past offenses, this essay considers three apologies in Shakespeare's Hamlet in order to argue that not only are philosophical efforts to purge ambiguity from apologies likely to fail but they are also ultimately undesirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Philosophers and critics of social media warn us of a lurker's complex: the unsettling belief that "real" communication is happening on someone else's blog or Facebook page. But this complex is hardly new. In popular works of fiction, the bored postal clerk has been a recurring symbol of the alienated, modern gossip hound stuck on the fringes of someone else's discourse. Rereading these post office novelists can help us clarify and critique our own online behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the methodological stance of Alan Goldman in "Philosophy and the Novel." Topics covered include his belief that distinctive values are attached to distinctive kinds of activity, his criticism of the forms of intentionalism about interpretation and his observation that the fundamental purpose of interpretation is to guide perception toward maximal appreciation.

The article explores the metaphilosophical commitments of philosopher Arthur Danto which dispose him toward literary devices that recur in comedy. Topics covered include the ways in which the comic strategies figure in Danto's philosophy of art, his belief that all philosophical problems have the same character and his presentation of indiscernibles to probe the difference between artworks and real things.

The author relates an incident which began with a Carolina wren that interrupted his stroll one morning. Topics covered include the idea that the wren can only give birth to a song because something has given birth to the wren, his perception of California wren as a bird that would hatch, sing and die and his reference to philosopher Jacques Derrida's concept of deconstruction.

The article explores the similarity between philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's view of aesthetic experience as the perception of objective ideas by a will-less subject and essayist T. S. Eliot's ideas of objectivity and impersonality. Topics covered include the characterization by Eliot of the mind of a mature poet, the representation by Eliot of poetry through the analogy of a chemical reaction and the connection by Schopenhauer of his aesthetic philosophy with his ethics of compassion.

Montaigne's last words in the Essays--the words that capture his entire project--are "sociable wisdom." Philosophy has been transformed from the "love of wisdom" to "sociable wisdom" and this transformation is, at the same time, the transformation of the human world. What is "sociable wisdom" and how has it produced this remarkable effect? Sociable wisdom overcomes the classical distinctions between leisure and work, theoretical and practical, strong and weak, masters and slaves. In the same act, the philosopher both transforms philosophy and invents society. The essay is the perfect expression of sociable wisdom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is lyric philosophy? The clearest response to that question is the book-length investigation by Canadian philosopher and poet Jan Zwicky. If philosophy can be defined as thinking in love with clarity, then lyric philosophy might be roughly understood as such thinking in which clarity assumes the form of resonance. Among her paradigmatic lyric philosophers, Zwicky includes (inter alia) the aphorists Herakleitos and Ludwig Wittgenstein. Lyric is distinguished by its deep structure, which is polydimensional and integrative. Epistemically, this structure responds to the gestural root of meaning, which is ineffably manifest in the physical world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines three exegetical approaches to Wittgenstein: the positivist approach, the ineffability approach, and the resolute approach. After revealing the defects and inconsistencies of the first two exegetical approaches, it adopts the resolute approach and rejects the possibility that a limit may be drawn between garden-variety nonsense and important nonsense. It then proceeds to outline a Wittgensteinian approach to ethics that pertains to the imagination and the spirit. It concludes with an excursus into literary ethics--which is this writer's main area of interest--and how it might plausibly square with the demands of a Wittgensteinian ethic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most commentators see Wittgenstein's Zettel 608 as suggesting that language and thought might arise out of chaos at the neural center--but this contradicts Wittgenstein's signature view that philosophers must not advance theories. Following Wittgenstein's remark to Drury that he cannot help looking at problems from a religious point of view, the paper argues that Zettel 608 employs religious creation language of the sort found in Augustine to suggest a new paradigm in the philosophies of language and mind--that language and thought arise, not out of neural processes, but out of the "chaos" of actions at the center of human forms of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the few accounts of Beckett's engagement with Wittgenstein's philosophy have been necessarily speculative, recently archived correspondence, a companion's memoir, and the catalogue of his personal library confirm a high degree of exposure: six books by, and six about, Wittgenstein (some of these annotated). Few other authors are better represented in the library. With particidar attention to the materials in that library, this essay focuses on several related aspects of the Tractatus in order to establish the special pertinence to Beckett's postwar and later fiction of Wittgenstein's treatment of ontology, reference, ineffability, solipsism, nominalism, and ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the perception of Stephen Davies, author of the book "The Artful Species: Aesthetics, Art and Evolution," on the relationship among aesthetics, art and evolution. Other topics discussed include the impact of the book on aestheticians and philosophers of art, the phenomenon of emotional arousal and the connection between art and emotions.

Plato's Apology is not merely an account of Socrates's trial, it is also a work of metaphilosophy, presenting Socrates's understanding of the nature and function of philosophy. This is a vital part of the text's apologetic task, for it is only with reference to Socrates's understanding of what philosophy is that we can understand, and so justify, his seemingly antisocial behavior. Plato presents to us Socrates's metaphilosophy in two ways: via what Socrates says and what he does. This twofold method of presentation is appropriate, if not essential, given the conception of philosophy that Socrates is presented as holding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does the way authors treat their own works tell us something about how these works are to be understood? Not necessarily. But then a standard argument against the "New Wittgenstein" comes under question. The argument is: the undogmatic interpretation of Wittgenstein's Tractatus cannot be correct, since Wittgenstein himself later treats it as a work that holds certain positions. My response is: the argument is only correct if the answer to four specific questions is "yes." The main purpose of the paper is to bring issues of philosophical authorship more into focus within Wittgensteinian interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the debates over the moral content of artworks, the group whose views are known variously as "ethicism," "moralism," or "moderate moralism" has claimed Hume as one of its own, and this supposed kinship has gone largely uncontested. We argue, contra Gaut and others, that the "merited response argument" is not to be found in Hume, and that he was not a (moderate) moralist in the current sense. Hume did indeed hold that our moral responses contribute to aesthetic assessment, but this does not amount to the claim that moral flaws in works of art are also aesthetic flaws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

History plays have a long history--about as long as the history of plays and about as long as the history of history. But philosophers of history have typically preferred to write about written history; and philosophers of literature have typically preferred to write about novels, occasionally historical novels. Yet, when we leave a performance of a history play, it still seems natural to ask: "I wonder if it happened like that?" The answer, I'll argue, is "no." But getting to that answer tells us something about history and something about drama. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tom Stoppard is not the sort of playwright one might call anti-intellectual, yet he has persistently singled out the field of academic philosophy for special assault in his plays. Stoppard's antipathy emerges from a history of contention between the theater and philosophy in England, one that originates in Friedrich Nietzsche's Birth of Tragedy and its particular reception at the hands of George Bernard Shaw. Stoppard offers an apotheosis of this disputation in his 1972 farce Jumpers, which imagines a marriage between a philosopher and an actress meant to demonstrate the superiority of the theater as a mode of speculative discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author talks about immortality and its potential to undermine people's experiences and decisions of significance. He explores an argument of philosopher Bernard Williams against the value of immortality. He explains what the philosopher calls the Tiresias model of immortality. He also attempts to disclose the main problems with immortality by systematically offering an analysis of the different forms of immoral life.

The article explores German philosopher Ernst Grosse's approach on art theory by drawing on the field of ethnology. In an 1891 essay "Ethnologie und Aesthetik," Grosse focused on past attempts to have ethnology answer questions in art theory. Grosse's analysis draws attention to what the author thinks are overlooked means of framing the study of art and aesthetics. The author claims that the global and interdisciplinary approach to art and aesthetics that Grosse hoped for is only being attempted again by an increasing number of scholars.

The article examines the rhetoric of analytic philosophy in Great Britain. Among the characteristics of British analytic philosophers are their attempt to align their discipline with science and willingness to invoke the additional prestige of tradition. The article points out that philosophers who recognize that philosophy was not science are liberated intellectually. Philosophers are commended for their increasing interest in attempts to situate their discipline historically.

The article examines the perspective of Walter Kaufmann on existentialism based on his collection "Existentialism: From Dostoevsky to Sartre." The energy and self-confidence of the editor evident in the book are attributed to the fact that he is also a philosopher. The significance of the decision of Kaufmann to start the anthology with the novel "Notes From the Underground," by Fyodor Dostoevsky is noted. In the author's view, Kaufmann portrayed existentialism that could not serve as a way for escapism.

The author discusses the role of drama in philosophy. She notes the negative attitudes toward philosophers throughout history and discusses how speculation on the beginnings of the cosmos has been influenced by narratives and ancient poetry. She uses the theatrical production "Antigone," by Sophocles as an example of the depiction of logos in drama.

This article describes philosophical allegories, whereby someone describes episodes in their life in order to illustrate a philosophical truth. The author uses this concept to analyze some of the writing of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. One such story is how Rousseau was locked out of Geneva after curfew, and consequently left his home city forever. The author suggests this story illustrates much of Rousseau's philosophy.

This article discusses debates among philosophers over the singularity of theory and literature which guide human actions. Platonic philosophers use the philosophy of logos which links the conduct of life to knowledge. Aristotle denounces the Platonic Form as a universal and self-predicting theory. Plato condemns the philosophy of Aristotle arguing that poetry can serve as cultural and moral education to humans.

The article discusses the thesis of philosopher Martha Nussbaum about the relationship between certain works of literature and moral philosophy. The normative primacy that novelist Henry James gives to the particular has led Nussbaum to consider as an ally of philosopher Aristotle. "The Wings of the Dove" and "The Ambassadors" are among the novels of James in which the thesis of Nussbaum is limited.

The article examines the early and late twentieth-century writings on philosophy and the crisis behind it that led to the separation between analytic and Continental tradition. Philosophy is defined as a discipline that uses rigorous forms of logic to apprehend a historical truth. In his essay "Why the Novel Matters," writer D. H. Lawrence argues that philosophers have misled people by asserting their intellectual superiority.

The article discusses the preface to "Philosophical Investigations" by Ludwig Wittgenstein. The philosopher admits his failure to make his book more than an interrelated collection of remarks. The continual problem in reading the book is to understand the reason for its fragmented form and to justify this form relative to its philosophical concerns and methods. The justification bears affinities with theological justification, defined as man becoming righteous relative to God.

The article analyzes the Epicurean theory of philosopher and poet Titus Lucretius Carus in dealing with death anxiety. The philosopher's poems have more humane presentation of philosopher Epicurus' doctrine which involves in the rich physicality of nature and human life. Unlike Epicurus, the poet ushers his readers into serene health and acknowledges the pain and sacrifice that may introduce using poems as his medium. He portrays the city of Athens which is a byword for civilization in Greece as a model of disease to depict that the city is not only trope for mortal achievement.

The article discusses the theory of the aesthetic experience of philosopher John Dewey. The philosopher considers the importance of environment to experiential health because it limits and controls the ways in how people react. Based on the Copernican revolution, the philosopher argues that the oppositions of mind and body, soul and matter and spirit and flesh have their origin. The valuable and meaningful experience through practical activity should not be mechanical and monotonous.

In response to recent debates about surface reading, critical description, and symptomatic interpretation, this article argues that the philosopher and literary theorist Richard Rorty offers new methodological possibilities for critics concerned with theories and practices of close reading. I suggest that, though Rorty's own analyses fail to respond to the aesthetic distinctiveness of the works he discusses, his accounts of "inspired reading" and "liberal irony" together pave the way for a more compelling critical practice. The article substantiates this claim through a reading of Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire —a novel that powerfully raises fundamental questions about reading and interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]