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:

Paul Mollica said...
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Leo said...

Thanks for the post.

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

Alexander R Pruss said...

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.

Drew said...

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.

Jarrett Cooper said...

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...