The Philosophy of Literature Contemporary and

Forty-five essential readings in the philosophy of literature are brought together for the first time in this anthology to provide a balanced and coherent overview of developments in the field during the past 30 years. They include substantial and carefully chosen essays and extracts which highlight influential work on fiction, emotion, interpretation, metaphor, literary value, and the definition and ontology of literature. An additional historical section features generous selections of the writings of early pioneers such as Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, and Hume. This authoritative volume offers a handy compilation of contributions to the field by its leading figures. It is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the philosophy of literature or the philosophy of art.

Eileen John is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Louisville, specializing in aesthetics and philosophy of literature. Her essays have appeared in the Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Philosophy and Literature, and The Henry James Review.

Dominic McIver Lopes is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of Understanding Pictures (1996) and co-editor of the Routledge Companion to Aesthetics (2000) and Imagination, Philosophy, and the Arts (2003). He is also co-editor, with Berys Gaut, of the Blackwell series New Directions in Aesthetics.

Acknowledgments

viii

Preface

xii

Part I Classic Sources

1

(40)

Introduction

3

(2)

Republic

5

(10)

Plato

Poetics

15

(10)

Aristotle

Of Tragedy

25

(4)

David Hume

The Birth of Tragedy

29

(7)

Friedrich Nietzsche

Creative Writers and Day-Dreaming

36

(5)

Sigmund Freud

Part II Definition of Literature

41

(32)

Introduction

43

(2)

Spazio

45

(1)

Arrigo Lora-Totino

What Isn't Literature?

46

(5)

E. D. Hirsch, Jr.

The Concept of Literature

51

(8)

Monroe Beardsley

Literary Practice

59

(6)

Peter Lamarque

Stein Haugom Olsen

What is Literature?

65

(8)

Robert Stecker

Part III Ontology of Literature

73

(34)

Introduction

75

(2)

Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote

77

(5)

Jorge Luis Borges

Literary Works as Types

82

(6)

Richard Wollheim

Literature

88

(5)

J. O. Urmson

Interpretation and Identity: Can the Work Survive the World?

93

(5)

Nelson Goodman

Catherine Elgin

Work and Text

98

(9)

Gregory Currie

Part IV Fiction

107

(56)

Introduction

109

(2)

Doonesbury

111

(1)

Garry Trudeau

The Logical Status of Fictional Discourse

112

(7)

John Searle

Truth in Fiction

119

(9)

David Lewis

What is Fiction?

128

(8)

Gregory Currie

Fiction and Nonfiction

136

(8)

Kendall Walton

Fictional Characters as Abstract Artifacts

144

(10)

Amie Thomasson

Logic and Criticism

154

(9)

Peter Lamarque

Part V Emotion

163

(42)

Introduction

165

(2)

Applicant

167

(3)

Harold Pinter

How Can We Be Moved by the Fate of Anna Karenina?

170

(7)

Colin Radford

Fearing Fictionally

177

(8)

Kendall Walton

The Pleasures of Tragedy

185

(9)

Susan Feagin

Tragedy and the Community of Sentiment

194

(11)

Flint Schier

Part VI Metaphor

205

(2)

Introduction

207

(2)

Essay on What I Think About Most

209

(3)

Anne Carson

Metaphor

212

Max Black

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The Philosophy of Literature Contemporary and Classic Readings - An Anthology

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials