Melville Among the Philosophers

Description

For more than a century readers have found Herman Melville’s writing rich with philosophical ideas, yet there has been relatively little written about what, exactly, is philosophically significant about his work and why philosophers are so attracted to Melville in particular. This volume addresses this silence through a series of essays that: (1) examine various philosophical contexts for Melville’s work, (2) take seriously Melville’s writings as philosophy, and (3) consider how modern philosophers have used Melville and the implications of appropriating Melville for contemporary thought. Melville among the Philosophers is ultimately an intervention across literary studies and philosophy that carves new paths into the work of one of America’s most celebrated authors, a man who continues to enchant and challenge readers well into the twenty-first century. Contents......Page 9 Introduction......Page 11 I: Melville as Philosopher......Page 23 Chapter One: “In Voiceless Visagelessness”......Page 25 Chapter Two: Platonic and Nietzschean Themes of Transformation in Moby-Dick......Page 47 Chapter Three: Passion, Reverie, Disaster, Joy......Page 67 Chapter Four: Outlandish Lands......Page 87 Chapter Five: Beasts, Sovereigns, Pirates......Page 105 Chapter Six: On Religion and the Strangeness of Speech......Page 127 II: Inheriting Melville......Page 149 Chapter Seven: Melville’s Phenomenology of Gender......Page 151 Chapter Eight: De-colonial Options in Moby-Dick......Page 171 Chapter Nine: “Benito Cereno,” or, the American Chronotope of Slavery......Page 191 Chapter Ten: The European Authorization of American Literature and Philosophy......Page 211 Afterword......Page 235 Index......Page 245 About the Contributors......Page 251