The Philosophy of Enchantment Studies in Folktale, Cultural Criticism, and Anthropology

by Collingwood, R. G.; Boucher, David; James, Wendy; Smallwood, Philip

• ISBN13: 9780199262533
• ISBN10: 0199262535
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-06-02
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

This is the long-awaited publication of a set of writings by the British philosopher, historian, and archaeologist R.G. Collingwood (1889-1943) on critical, anthropological, and cultural themes only hinted at in his previously available work. At the core are six essays on folktale and magic in which Collingwood applies the principles of his philosophy of history to problems in the long-term evolution of human society and culture. The volume opens with three substantial introductory essays by the editors, authorities in their various fields, who provide their explanatory and contextual notes to guide the reader through the texts. The Philosophy of Enchantment highlights the broad range of Collingwood's intellectual engagements, their integration, and their relevance to current areas of debate in the fields of philosophy, cultural studies, social and literary history, and anthropology.

Table of Contents

Introduction The Re-Enactment of Self: Perspectives from Literature, Criticism, and Culture, Philip Smallwood A Fieldworker's Philosopher: Perspectives from Anthropology, Wendy James In Defence of Collingwood: Perspectives from Philosophy and the History of Ideas

Art and Culture

Words and Tune

Observations on Language

Jane Austen (1921)

Jane Austen (?1934)

The Philosophy of Art

Aesthetic Theory and Artistic Practice

Tales of Enchantment

Fairy Tales

Three Methods of Approach: Philological, Functional, Psychological

The Historical Method

Magic

Excavating Cinderella and King Lear

The Authorship of Fairy-Tales Addenda to the Folktale Manuscript

The Modern Unease

Art and the Machine

Man Goes Mad

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