Henry James and the Philosophical Novel [Paperback]

Henry James and the Philosophical Novel examines James's unique position as a philosophical novelist.Henry James and the Philosophical Novel examines James's unique position as a philosophical novelist. The book offers a detailed consideration of story-telling as a mode of philosophical enquiry, showing how a range of distinguished thinkers have relied on fictional narrative as a vital technique for formulating and clarifying their ideas.Henry James and the Philosophical Novel examines James's unique position as a philosophical novelist. The book offers a detailed consideration of story-telling as a mode of philosophical enquiry, showing how a range of distinguished thinkers have relied on fictional narrative as a vital technique for formulating and clarifying their ideas.Henry James and the Philosophical Novel breaks fresh ground by examining James's unique position as a philosophical novelist, closely associated with the climate of ideas generated by his brother William. It considers storytelling as a mode of philosophical enquiry, showing how a range of distinguished thinkers have relied on fictional narrative as a technique for formulating and clarifying their ideas; and investigates (with close reference to his novels) the affiliations between James's practice as a novelist and contemporary epistemological, moral, and linguistic concerns.Introduction: Jamesian thinking and philosophy as story-telling; 1. What Maisie Knew: the challenge of vision; 2. The Ambassadors: observation and interpretation&passion and compassion; 3. The Wings of the Dove: self and society; 4. The Spoils of Poynton: experiments in subjectivity and truth; 5. The Golden Bowl: the complex of shaping relations; Conclusion: Henry James's version of the philosophical novel; Bibliography; Index. Merle A. Williams's book is a welcome addition to the growing library on James and philosophy. Jonathan Levin, The Henry James Review