LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY

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Introduction: 

From the earliest periods philosophy and literature were inter-connected. The Greeks in the old period and the Romantics in the 19th century regarded literature and philosophy as indistinguishable. Again, the poets and the philosophers were regarded by the Greeks and the Romans as prophets. Only in the later generations both philosophy and literature came to be distinguished

Philosophy is Abstract but Literature is Concrete

Philosophy is abstract and universal but literature is concrete and particular. Philosophy is discursive (i.e. logical) whereas literature is rhetorical. Philosophy is theoretical but literature may explain the same theory with beautiful, easy examples. The 16th century critics Sir Philip Sidney makes the following observation about literature and philosophy. According to him, the end of all knowledge is the teaching of virtue. Both philosophy and history play their parts to teach virtue. History does it by actual examples from the past. Poetry (literature) is superior to both philosophy and history because it combines the functions of both

Philosophical ideas woven into Literature

Philosophical ideas are woven into literature by the writers. The literary men often work through literary devices like irony, satire, metaphor, allegory, etc. In spite of the fact that they try to blend the philosophical materials with literary materials. Two examples may illustrate this point. Dante's Divine Comedy consists of passages of poetry with passages of theology. The second part of Goethe’s ‘Faust’ suffers from over-intellectualization

Literature reflects Philosophy and History

English literature, according to Wellek and Warren, reflects the history of philosophy. Renaissance Platonism pervades Elizabethan poetry. Spenser's Four Hymns and The Faerie Queene deal with the Heavenly Beauty. In Marlowe we hear echoes of the contemporary Italian atheism and scepticism. Dryden has written philosophical poetry which explains the theological and political controversies of the time Pope's Essay on Man abounds in philosophical echoes. Among the great Romantic poets, S.T. Coleridge was himself a philosopher of great ambition. He was a student of Kant and Schelling (German philosophers) and explained their views. There are traces of Kant in Wordsworth. Shelley was deeply influenced by Godwin, Soinoza, Berkeley and Plato

Writers influenced by Philosophers

The Victorian controversy between science and religion finds expression in the poets Tennyson and Browning. In the poetry of Hopkins, we find the effect of his study of the Medieval philosopher, Duns Scotus. Shaw is influenced by Samuel Butler and Nietzche. Modern novelist, James Joyce was influenced by Thomas Aquinas and W B Yeats was deeply influenced by theosophy, mysticism and Berkeley

Literature of Ideas

There is a special kind of literature known as literature of ideas, in which the philosophic ideas stand out. For example, Hard Times by Charles Dickens points out how reason and facts can stifle imagination and individuality. George Eliot's Middle March discusses the social and political problems

Literature expresses general attitude toward life

Literature, according to Rudolf Unger, is not philosophical knowledge translated into imagery and verse but that literature expresses a general attitude toward life. The attitude of the writers is to he studied in relation to the problems of man, concept of love, problems of society, family and state

Literature no substitute for Philosophy

Finally, literature is no substitute for philosophy. Philosophical poetry is only one kind of poetry. Its position is not necessarily central in literature. Wellek and Warren make it clear that "poetry is not a substitute for philosophy; it has its own justification and aim. Poetry of ideas is like other poetry not to be judged by the value of material but by its degree of integration and artistic intensity"

 

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