The Head & the Heart: Philosophy in LiteratureHumanity Books, 2006 - 177 σελίδες Part of the greatness of great literature consists in the profound, philosophic ideas the works contain. These ideas may not be unknown to philosophy but, when rendered in literary form, they gain an aesthetic force often lacking in the philosophic treatise with its careful train of reasoning.In this insightful study, Burton Porter explores the philosophic content of some outstanding literary works, analyzing and evaluating the ideas that drive the narrative.Porter first examines the concept of free will and determinism in Melville's Moby Dick, placing the quest for the white whale within the context of foreordination, hubris, prophecy, and defiance of divine power. Connections are also drawn to Euripides' Medea and Shakespeare's King Lear as well as the Old Testament.The good and the right are traced in Anouilh's Antigone and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, showing the philosophic antagonisms in the literature and in the conflicted minds of the authors.Voltaire' Candide and Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov are then explored insofar as they express the problem of evil--the tension between human suffering on earth and belief in a benevolent, wise, almighty God.Finally, the nature of the self is investigated in Rilke's The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge and Kafka's The Metamorphosis, focusing on identity and the mind-body problem.Porter makes philosophy come alive by showing its expression in art and revealing the depth of ideas that make literature compelling.Burton Porter (Springfield, MA) is currently professor of philosophy at Western New England College and a visiting professor of philosophy at Mt. Holyoke College. He is the author or editor of numerous books including Philosophy Through Fiction and Film, The Voice of Reason, and Reasons For Living. |
Περιεχόμενα
The Relation Between Philosophy and Art | 9 |
Anouilhs Antigone | 57 |
Goethes Faust Dostoevskys | 95 |
Πνευματικά δικαιώματα | |
2 άλλες ενότητες δεν εμφανίζονται
Άλλες εκδόσεις - Προβολή όλων
Συχνά εμφανιζόμενοι όροι και φράσεις
absurd actions Ahab Ahab's animal Anna Anna Karenina Anna's Antigone Antigone's appears argument artist awareness become body Brothers Karamazov character choice Christ condition conscience creatures Creon death deity Descartes divine earth Epicurus Eteocles eternal ethical everything existence experience face fact fate father Faust feeling force freedom God's Grand Inquisitor Gregor hand happiness heaven human humankind identity insect justice Kafka Karenin Leibniz Levin lives logical Lord man's means Melville ment MEPHISTOPHELES metamorphosis metaphysical mind Moby Dick moral natural evil necessity never object occurs one's pain Pangloss perhaps person philosophic physical pleasure Polynices problem of evil punishment Queequeg reality realized regard reject response Rilke Satan seems selfhood sense sinfulness sometimes soul spirit stand Starbuck Stepan suffering temptation Thebes thee theory things Thou thought tion Tolstoy Tolstoy's truth uncon universe Voltaire Vronsky white whale worship