Literature, Philosophy, and the Imagination.

The article examines the distinction between appearance and reality in the literature originating from the imagination. According to the author, French novelist Alain Robbe-Grillet is correct in his account of the nature of the traditional novel. He adds that for that enterprise hangs upon the distinction between appearance and reality which is itself the cornerstone of the metaphysical imagination. The fate of this distinction between appearance and reality is also embedded in the history of modern philosophy.