Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Philosophy and literature

Different genres of literature are apt to give insights in different areas of philosophy:
  • science fiction: metaphysics and mind
  • mystery: epistemology
  • fantasy: philosophy of religion
  • non-genre fiction: ethics
Of course there are many exceptions.

5 comments:

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  2. Thanks for the post.

    I am, however, confused as to how fantasy illuminates philosophy of religion.

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  3. Fantasy can broaden our view of the range of possible worlds that God could have created as well as of the range of possible relationships between God and the world.

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  4. I'll agree here about the philosophy of religion. The Eragon series, for example, lays its philosophy of religion on pretty thick, especially after the first book.

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  5. I don't know what category Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 would fall into, but it certainly says a lot about political philosophy, the causes and consequences of full censorship, and the human endeavorer to preserve knowledge. (Among other things.)

    I also wonder with it being a 'futurist' book that it could also fall under metaphysics? Full government control of censorship could result in...

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