Consciousness, Literature and the Arts
Archive
Volume 2 Number 3, December 2001
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Michael
Weston, Philosophy, Literature and the Human Good
Reviewed by
I approached the reading of this book with a sense of wonder brought on by the title of the book that seemed to stimulate my imaginative sensibilities and interest. In this work the author explores a wide range of issues of which the pivotal thread in the manuscript is an examination of literature through different philosophical perspectives. The book covers aspects of early 19th century Western thought to the present and in so doing, a wide and diverse range of thinking is analysed and debated resulting in a breadth of coverage that amounts to a substantial body of work.
The book consists of eleven chapters and each section discusses some major philosophical thinker. Georges Bataille, Maurice Blanchot, Jacques Derrida, Iris Murdoch, Martha Nussbaum, Richard Rorty, Stanley Cavell, Kierkegaard and Phillips are all given specific spaces. This is an ambitious manuscript with a particular definite intention, drawing from the work of Phillips and the author’s own moralistic position.
A potential rich vein of different thoughts on philosophy, literature and the human good has been collected here. In each chapter, the author gives his account of how human good through literature is interpreted by different philosophers, describing some of the arguments and values that they appear to use to support their arguments. So, in bringing together in one short book, a variegated range of ideas pursued by different philosophers, Weston is to be congratulated. The author to a degree has been successful in condensing some rather difficult philosophical text in a personal style with verve.
There is a high level of generality in this work, which one might expect from an introductory book of this nature. Condensing philosophical ideas, which is not a simple thing to do given that philosophy generally involves complex thoughts, has made the reading of this text sometimes difficult. In places, it is quite succinct, having a pace to the book that too quickly dismisses some deep philosophical argument.
I shall briefly point out, as examples, a few of these problems in relation to the author’s chapters on Iris Murdoch and Martha Nussbaum. It seems to me that Weston gives a less than fair picture of Murdoch’s and Nussbaum’s work in this text. To begin with, insufficient attention is given to Murdoch’s considerable regard in her philosophy for aesthetic life. The aesthetic contribution that the author does make in relation to Murdoch is not skillfully handled, as his writing does not bring out Murdoch’s intricate and rather profound position that explores the ethical and spiritual life indicative of aesthetic well-being. An important facet of Murdoch’s ethics, but not mentioned in the work, is her reluctance to make clear distinctions between fact and value. Murdoch presents a number of parallel and overlapping claims concerning beauty, moral outlook and goodness, that weaves a rather rich landscape of human will and flourishing that I am afraid does not come through here. I thus found the author’s criticisms of Murdoch’s work too selective and often questionable.
While agreeing to some extent with Weston’s synopsis of Martha Nussbaum’s obvious liking for Aristotle, there are key aspects of her thinking that he omits to mention, namely, her literary interest in feminism, liberal democracy, autonomy, communitarism, well-being and the idea of a good citizen. The contingent Aristotelian aspect as Weston correctly associates in Nussbaum’s philosophy is a central feature of her work. While Weston rightly notices Nussbaum’s interest in emotions he fails sufficiently to connect the importance of this with many of her remarks on friendship, cognition, beauty, intellectual insight, human excellence and the fragility of life itself.
Despite my few concerns here, there is plenty in this book worthy of serious reflection and debate and I recommend it without reservation. The reader will find this book engaging, provocative and different in its vocation, a work that deserves to find its place in any university library.