Philosophy, literature, and the human good / Michael Weston.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weston, Michael, 1946-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Literature and morals.

Literature, Modern--History and criticism.

Literature, Modern.

Physical Description:

xix, 198 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2001.

Summary:

Weston examines the role of literature in philosophical reflection on the significance of life, addressing both the European "Post-Nietzschean" tradition and the increasing importance of these issues for major American and British thinkers. He initiates a dialogue between these traditions and outlines their central connections and differences. In particular, Weston carefully examines, via key readings of these thinkers, whether literature can make a positive contribution to ethics.

Contents:

1 Life as Art: Kant, Schlegel, Nietzsche 1

2 Georges Bataille: the impossible 19

3 Maurice Blanchot: literature's space 37

4 Jacques Derrida: the staging of deconstruction 51

5 Iris Murdoch: the transcendent good 69

6 Martha Nussbaum: moral fortune 84

7 Richard Rorty: philosophy as literature 100

8 Stanley Cavell: language, therapy and perfectionism 114

9 A Kierkegaardian intervention 132

10 D. Z. Phillips: the mediation of sense 140

11 A concluding reading: Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim 156.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-196) and index.

ISBN:

0415243378

0415243386

OCLC:

45223581