Aesthetics and Literature

by Davies, David

• ISBN13: 9780826496126
• ISBN10: 0826496121
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-08-19
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

The Continuum Aesthetics series looks at the aesthetic questions and issues raised by all major art forms. Stimulating, engaging and highly readable, the series offers food for thought not only for students of aesthetics, but also for anyone with an interest in philosophy and the arts. Aesthetics and Literature places philosophical aesthetics at the heart of thinking about literature. The book takes concrete examples from the traditional and contemporary literary arts and uses them to introduce all the central philosophical issues in literature. David Davies considers, with stimulating insight and great clarity, the nature of literature and fiction, artistic uses of language, and the nature of fictional characters. He goes on to explore our emotional responses to literature, the cognitive value and ethical values of literature and the accountability of the literary arts. The book offers a clear, non-technical analysis of each key issue, its broader significance and the principal positions that philosophers have taken on it. Davies presents the relevant philosophical background in a manner that is accessible to philosophy students and lay readers alike. Anyone interested in the philosophy of literature will find this book a rich source of ideas, insight and information. Combining a clear and engaging style with a sophisticated treatment of a fascinating subject, Aesthetics and Literature is a valuable contribution to contemporary aesthetics. >

Author Biography

David Davies is Professor of Philosophy at McGill University, Canada

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
The nature of literature	p. 1
What is a literary work?	p. 17
The ontological issue	p. 17
Textualism	p. 19
Contextualism critiques of textualism	p. 23
The nature of fiction	p. 32
Stylistic and semantic conceptions of fiction	p. 33
Functional theories of fiction	p. 36
True fictions	p. 43
Reading fiction (1): Truth in a story	p. 49
Constraints on a theory of truth in fiction	p. 50
'Possible worlds' analyses of truth in fiction	p. 58
Fictional truth and fictional authors	p. 64
Reading fiction (2): Interpreting literary works	p. 70
Interpretation and the 'intentional fallacy'	p. 70
'Actual intentionalist' theories of interpretation	p. 76
'Uptake' theories of interpretation	p. 84
Interpretative pluralism and interpretative monism	p. 92
The nature of fictional characters	p. 98
Philosophical problems with fictional characters	p. 98
'Meinongian' solutions	p. 101
'Russellian' solutions	p. 106
Alternative strategies	p. 113
Literature and the emotions	p. 120
The 'paradox of fiction'	p. 121
The 'paradox of tragedy' and the 'paradox of horror'	p. 132
The cognitive value of literature	p. 142
Literary cognitivism	p. 142
The epistemological challenge to literary cognitivism	p. 147
Fictional narratives and thought experiments	p. 157
Literature, morality, and society	p. 164
The moral value of literature	p. 165
Ethical value and artistic value	p. 170
The accountability of literature	p. 182
Notes	p. 189
Bibliography	p. 200
Index	p. 207
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