On Jean-Paul Sartre's What is Literature? (1948), ch. 1 and 2. What's the purpose of literature? Why write prose as opposed to poetry? Sartre was fending off criticism that his prose was too overtly political. Kant's view of art was still dominant, according to which good art is "disinterested," i.e., the spectator is supposed to appreciate the pure play of form. So if an Continue Reading …
Episode 212: Sartre on Literature (Citizen Edition)
On Jean-Paul Sartre's What is Literature? (1948), chs. 1 and 2. What's the purpose of literature? Why write prose as opposed to poetry? Sartre was fending off criticism that his prose was too overtly political. Kant's view of art was still dominant, according to which good art is "disinterested," i.e., the spectator is supposed to appreciate the pure play of form. So if an Continue Reading …
Combat & Classics #26: Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”
What is the relationship between the natural world and the human world? In this belated Halloween episode, Lise, Jeff, and Brian discuss Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Get more C&C on the PEL site or at combatandclassics.org. Continue Reading …
Bonus: (sub)Text #1: Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”: Poesis as Revenge Forsaken (Part One)
Wes Alwan is joined by Broadway veteran and previous PEL guest Bill Youmans to discuss Shakespeare's 1611 play about revenge, forgiveness, and authorship. Or maybe it's about exploitation, or how we react to changes in status, or perhaps how a liberal education can give you magical powers! Note: This is only the first half; the second half will NOT be appearing on this feed. Continue Reading …
How Plato’s “Phaedrus” Influenced Thomas Mann’s “Death in Venice”
Death in Venice is one complex piece of writing. Besides dealing with homoeroticism (in 1911) and approaching complex questions of ethics, psychology, and aesthetics, the novella also manages to reference Nietzsche and Plato while making us empathize with someone who some might (crudely) just call a pedophile. Gustave Von Aschenbach, the protagonist, is an aging, famous Continue Reading …
Episode 117: Discussing Sophocles’s “Antigone”
About that ancient Greek tragedy (441 BCE)... What can we learn from it? Are its literary tropes and ethical conflicts so far removed from us that the best we can do is marvel at it? Heck, no! Classic literature is great fodder for philosophical discussion, and the doings of the play can be fruitfully related to our modern troubles with ethics and the state. Mark, Wes, and Continue Reading …
Episode 117: Sophocles’s “Antigone” (Citizen Edition)
About that ancient Greek tragedy (441 BCE)... What can we learn from it? Are its literary tropes and ethical conflicts so far removed from us that the best we can do is marvel at it? Heck, no! Classic literature is great fodder for philosophical discussion, and the doings of the play can be fruitfully related to our modern troubles with ethics and the state. Mark, Wes, and Continue Reading …
Episode 111: Gadamer’s Hermeneutics (Citizen Edition)
On Hans-Georg Gadamer's Truth and Method (1960, ch. 4), "Aesthetics and Hermeneutics" (1964), "The Universality of the Hermeneutical Problem" (1966), and "Hermeneutics as Practical Philosophy" (1972). Hermeneutics is all about interpretation, primarily of texts, but of other things too, and Gadamer thinks that even if we learn all about the history and customs and probable Continue Reading …
Episode 111: Gadamer’s Hermeneutics: How to Interpret
On Hans-Georg Gadamer's Truth and Method (1960, ch. 4), "Aesthetics and Hermeneutics" (1964), "The Universality of the Hermeneutical Problem" (1966), and "Hermeneutics as Practical Philosophy" (1972). Hemeneutics is all about interpretation, primarily of texts, but of other things too, and Gadamer thinks that even if we learn all about the history and customs and probable Continue Reading …
Not School Fiction Group Reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
This May, PEL's Not School Fiction Group read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, the author of No Country for Old Men (which PEL covered) and The Road. Blood Meridian is a dark masterpiece set in 1849 where a runaway kid joins a gang of scalp-hunters led by the Judge, a philosophizing warmonger. The Judge's views on existence come out in several stories and fire-side Continue Reading …
Philosophy as “Literary” (or “Is the Sky So Very Big?”)
Following up on my recent post skeptical of a strong formulation of the difference between philosophy and science, I've been thinking about the character of many philosophical claims, particularly in light of my current reading of Rand. In addition to the readings for the podcast proper (which I'll post about within the next week, but I can tell you right now that we're Continue Reading …
Is Quine “Literature” Because He Reads All Smooth and Silky?
After our posts about philosophical literature it seemed appropriate to refer to this post from the NY Times on philosophy itself as literature by Jim Holt. An excerpt: Now let me narrow my query: Does anybody read analytic philosophy for pleasure? Is this kind of philosophy literature? Here you might say, “Certainly not!” Or you might say, “What the heck is analytic Continue Reading …
Not School Group Report: Paul Auster’s Novella, “City of Glass”
Editor's Note: PEL listener Paul Harris has written up this report on a great Not School discussion available for member download. Whether or not you want to join, it's still a fricking great book, recommended for anyone with an interest in modern and/or philosophical literature. Last Sunday, the Not School group ‘Worlds of Wordcraft’ – a group created to read and discuss Continue Reading …
Is Philosophy Better Than Art?
If you believe Plato, then the answer is "yes". If all of philosophy is a footnote to Plato, then the artists have been subordinated to the philosophers for about 25 centuries. According to Plato's Republic, especially the last section, the artists present a danger to society and to your soul. Two of my favorite thinkers disagree with Plato and Socrates on this point. Friedrich Continue Reading …
The Invisible Man and Existentialism
Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man is a great American novel. Ellison’s ability to make the reader feel the racism of the time is unsettling. The painful experience of living in a country that views you with disdain—that sees you as a problem—permeates the text. It is also a deeply philosophical novel. Consider the following outline of the novel written by Ellison to his Continue Reading …
Ghostlier Demarcations, Keener Sounds
When writing about literature and philosophy there are three obvious tropes: the existential or absurdist nior, the speculative fiction, and the condemnation of poetry. Not that poetry hasn't had its defenders, and if Mark's rant is indication, the sort of "deepity" he seems to accuse McCarthy of can easily be applied to most poets. In fact, Zizek would apply atrocities to us Continue Reading …
Iris Murdoch on Philosophy and Literature
In Fire and the Sun: Why Plato Banished the Artists, Iris Murdoch claimed that "[a]rt is far and away the most educational thing we have..." Here she is discussing this notion, among many others, with the philosopher Bryan Magee. Part One: Watch on YouTube. Continue Reading …