Loading...
This is a Work of Fiction: Rethinking the "Doing"� of Philosophy
Wadley, Mark
Wadley, Mark
Citations
Altmetric:
Contributor
Photographer
Author
Artist
Editor
Advisor
Keywords
Text, Student research, Honors papers, Philosophy, Department of
Local ID
Collections
Abstract
Within the contemporary philosophical community, written language serves as a primary
means of conveying ideas, positions, and arguments; however, discussion of the content
of these communicated ideas usually takes precedence over discussion about their modes
of presentation—that is, the intentional arrangement of the words themselves. Taking into
account a postmodern conception of language and its direct relation to meaning, it
becomes important to examine the function of written discourse in the development of
understanding, beginning with a recognition of the reader-writer relationship, in which
the responsibility for meaning-making falls to both participants. This relationship, while
indicative of the hermeneutic articulation of experience as contingent upon interpretation,
also lends support to liberal ironist arguments for nonfoundationalist human solidarity.
Though readers and writers interact within the context of any mode of writing, their
relationship is particularly crucial to narrative fiction, presented here as a productive
means of discussing philosophical ideas. Through examination of the philosophical
works of Rorty, Sartre, Foucault, and Derrida and analysis of Jonathan Safran Foer’s
novel Everything is Illuminated, we can come to a greater understanding of postmodern
accounts of experience, the position of writing as a form of discourse, and the vital role
narrative fiction plays in the liberal project of fostering solidarity.
Description
Mark Wadley granted permission for the digitization of his paper. It was submitted by CD.