The Poetic of Reason: Introducing Rational Poetic Experimentalism

Stefán Snævarr is Professor of Philosophy at the Norway Inland University, Lillehammer, Norway. His main professional interests lie broadly within the field of aesthetics. His last book in English was Metaphors, Narratives, Emotions. Their Interplay and Impact (Rodopi, 2010).

Preface


Part A

Rational Poetic Experimentalism


Section I

Introducing the rpe


Introduction to Section i, Part a


1 Experimental Philosophy and the Literary

 Introducing the Literary


 Experiments and Philosophy


 Responses and Rejoinders


 Conclusion




2 rpe and Its Methodology

 Nozick’s Pluralist and Aesthetic View of Philosophy


 The Proliferation of Possibilities and the Destab


 Quasi-induction and Inference to the Least Bad Explanation


 Objections and Responses


 Conclusion




Conclusion and Summary of Section i, Part a


section II

Philosophy and Literature: The No-Gap Theory


Introduction to Section ii, Part a


1 Discussing Definitions Preparing the Ground for the No-Gap Theory

 The Concept of Philosophy


 The Concepts of the Literary and Imaginative Literature


 The Institutional Theory


 Amoebaean Concepts


 Conclusion




2 Fleshing Out the No-Gap Theory

 The Indicators


 The Similarities between Philosophy and Literature


 Conclusion




3 The No-Gap Theory and the Problem of Progress

 Cognitive Progress


 Williamson on Progress in Philosophy


 Other Thinkers on Progress


 Progress and the Proliferation of Possibilities


 Rejoinders and Responses


 Conclusion




Conclusion and Summary of Section ii, Part a


section III

Destabing and the Literary Factors


Introduction to Section iii, Part a


1 The Might of Metaphors On Metaphorism

 Introduction to Metaphors and Max Black’s Theories


 The Tropical Side of Language


 Goodman on Metaphors


 Metaphorism: Generative Metaphorics


 Ricœur: Live Metaphors and Split Reference


 Ricœur: Emotions, Creativity, and Imagination


 Ricœur: The Cognitive Function of Metaphors


 The Alethetic Theory of Metaphoric Understanding


 Metaphors only Shadows of Literal Meaning?


 Conclusion




2 In the Beginning Was the Story On Narrativism

 Introducing Narratives and Stories


 The Narrativist Argument: Carr


 The Narrative Realist Argument: Dray and Schapp


 Blending Theory and Narrativism


 Mink and Narration as Cognition


 Ricœur and the Rule of Narratives


 The rpe and Narrativism


 Lamarque’s Criticism of Narrativism


 Conclusion




3 Is Reality a Fiction? On Fictionalism

 Introducing Fictionalism (and Its Forefathers)


 Walton and Make-Believe


 Different Kinds of Fictionalism


 Make-Believe and Mathematics


 Fictionalism and the rpe


 A Note on Imagination and Creativity


 Critical Comments


 Conclusion




Conclusion and Summary of Section iii, Part a


Part b

The Poetic of Reason


section i

Introducing the Poetic of Reason


Introduction to Section i, Part b


1 Preliminary Notes on Reason

 Reason, Truth, and Evaluation


 Logic and Reason


 Induction and Abduction


 More about Deduction


 Rejoinders and Replies


 Conclusion




2 Linguistic Rationalism and the Nobel Art of Destabing

 Preparatory Notes on Some Analytical Schools


 Habermas, Apel, Reason, and Language


 Is Reason Really Rational?


 First Destabing: Language


 Second Destabing: Linguistic Rationalism


 Third Destabing: Practical Reason


 Rejoinders and Responses


 Conclusion




3 The Poetic of Models

 Metaphors and Models


 A Note on Metaphors, Causal Reference, and Generalizations


 Critics of Models and Metaphors


 Models as Fictions


 Models and Narratives: The Poetic of Science


 Responses to Possible Objections


 Conclusion




4 Relativism and Conceptual Schemes

 Relativism and Incommensurability


 Davidson’s Criticism of Incommensurabilism


 Defending Schemism


 Conclusion




5 The Reasons of Relativism, the Relativity of Reason

 Goodman and the Plurality of Worlds


 Margolis and Relativism


 Rorty and Relativism


 Lingualism, Science, Reality, Skepticism


 Conclusion




6 Rhetoric, Science, and Literature

 The Rhetoric of Science (Destabing Science)


 Novels as Models, Multivalentism and Literature


 Conclusion




Conclusion and Summary of Section i, Part b


section ii

The Poetic of Reason (ii): Feelings, Disclosure, Background


Introduction to Section ii, Part b


1 Feelings

 Emotions and Feelings: Cognitive Theories


 Goldie on Emotions, the Body, and Subjectivity


 Taylor’s Hermeneutic Cognitivism


 Feeling, Cognition, Art, Science, Values


 Intuition and Imagination


 Conclusion




2 The Poetic of Emotions

 Emotions and Metaphors


 Narratives and Emotions


 Fictions and the Meeting Places of the Threesome


 Conclusion




3 Deflated Disclosure

 Heidegger’s World Disclosure


 Introducing Deflated Disclosure


 Literature and f-d-e-Disclosing


 Disclosism and Rationality


 Conclusion




4 Background and Literature

 The Background


 The Literary Factors, Artworks, and the Ineffable


 Conclusion




5 The Amoebae of Reason Concluding Comments on Rationality

 Reason and the Poetic


 Rationality Again


 The Crossword Puzzle of Reason


 Conclusion




Conclusion and Summary of Section ii, Part b


Concluding the Book


Concluding the Experiments, Concluding the Book

 Conclusion of the Conclusion




A Concluding Personal Note


Bibliography


Index