Truth, Fiction, and Literature: A Philosophical Perspective - Couverture rigide

Lamarque, Peter

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0198240821 ISBN 13 : 9780198240822

Editeur : Clarendon Press, 1994

Synopsis

This study examines the complex and varied ways in which fictions relate to the real world, and offers a precise account of how imaginative works of literature can use fictional content to explore matters of universal human interest. While rejecting the traditional view that literature is important for the truths that it imparts, the authors also reject attempts to cut literature off altogether from real human concerns. Their detailed account of fictionality, mimesis and cognitive value, founded on the methods of analytical philosophy, restores to literature its distinctive status among cultural practices. The authors also explore metaphysical and sceptical views, prevalent in modern thought, according to which the world itself is a kind of fiction in science, logic, epistemology and make-believe, and thereby challenge the idea that discourse per se is fictional and that different modes of discourse are at root indistinguishable. They offer rigorous analyses of the roles of narrative, imagination, metaphor and "making" in human thought processes. Both in their methods and in their conclusions, Lamarque and Olsen aim to restore rigour and clarity to debates about the values of literature, and to provide new, philosophically-sound foundations for a genuine change of direction in literary theorizing. Stein Haugom Olsen is the author of "The Structure of Literary Understanding" and "The End of Literary Theory". Peter Lamarque is the editor of "Philosophy and Fiction: Essays in Literary Aesthetics", and subject editor for the ten-volume "Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics".

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

This book examines the complex and varied ways in which fictions relate to the real world, and offers a precise account of how imaginative works of literature can use fictional content to explore matters of universal human interest. While rejecting the traditional view that literature is important for the truths that it imparts, the authors also reject attempts to cut off literature altogether from real human concerns. Their detailed account of fictionality, mimesis, and cognitive value helps restore to literature its distinctive status among cultural practices. The authors also explore the limits of fictionality, particularly in relation to metaphysical and sceptical views, prevalent in modern thought, according to which the world itself is a kind of fiction, and truth no more than a cultural construct. They identify different conceptions of fiction in science, logic, epistemology, and make-believe, and thereby challenge the idea that discourse per se is fictional and that different modes of discourse are at root indistinguishable. They offer rigorous analyses of the roles of narrative, imagination, metaphor, and 'making' in human thought processes. Both in their methods and in their conclusions, Lamarque and Olsen aim to bring much-needed rigour and clarity to debates about the values of literature, and to provide new, philosophically sound foundations for a genuine change of direction in literary theorizing.

Biographie de l'auteur

Peter Lamarque is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hull, England, and has recently been appointed Editor of the British Journal of Aesthetics. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the University of Tsukuba (Japan) and the Australian National University. He is the editor of Philosophy and Fiction: Essays in Literary Aesthetics (Aberdeen University Press, 1983). Stein Haugom Olsen is Professor of British Civilization Studies at the University of Oslo, and a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science (arts section). He is the author of The Structure of Literary Understanding (CUP, 1978) and The End of Literary Theory (CUP, 1987). Stein Haugom Olsen is Professor of British Civilization Studies at the University of Oslo, and a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science (arts section). He is the author of The Structure of Literary Understanding (CUP, 1978) and The End of Literary Theory (CUP, 1987).

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Clarendon Press
• Date d'édition: 1994
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0198240821
• ISBN 13: 9780198240822
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 494
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible
• Personne responsable: Messaggerie Libri; ufficio.anagrafiche@meli.it; ; Via Verdi, 8; Assago Milano; Italie