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.
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Melville among the Philosophers
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.
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.
Corey McCall is associate professor of philosophy at Elmira College. Tom Nurmi is assistant professor of English at Montana State University Billings.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Melville’s SilenceCorey McCall & Tom NurmiI. Melville as Philosopher “In Voiceless Visagelessness”: The Disenchanted Landscape of ClarelTroy Jollimore Platonic and Nietzschean Themes of Transformation in Moby-DickMark Anderson Passion, Reverie, Disaster, Joy: What Philosophers Learn at SeaEdward F. Mooney Outlandish Lands: Melville’s Pierre and the Democratic Ambiguity of Space and TimeJason M. WirthBeasts, Sovereigns, Pirates: Melville’s “Enchanted Isles” Beyond the PicturesqueGary ShapiroOn Religion and the Strangeness of Speech: Typee as a ‘Peep’Tracy B. Strong II. Inheriting MelvilleMelville’s Phenomenology of Gender: Critical Reflections on C.L.R. James’ Mariners, Renegades, Castaways and Paget Henry’s Caliban’s ReasonMarilyn Nissim-Sabat Decolonial Options in Moby-DickKris Sealey “Benito Cereno,” or, the American Chronotope of SlaveryEduardo Mendieta The European Authorization of American Literature and Philosophy: After Cavell, Reading Bartleby with Deleuze, then Rancière David LaRocca Afterword: A Time to Break the Philosophic Silencing of MelvilleCornel West
