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Quote by Philip Kitcher

“The moment in which the narrator, reaching for his boots, becomes vividly and lastingly aware of the finality of his grandmother's death is another such moment. It would be interesting to explore Proust's great novel from the perspective of seeing how stable synthetic complexes are formed and modified.”

Quote by Philip Kitcher

Author

Philip Kitcher, born on February 20, 1947, is a philosopher, writer, and academic. His research interests are primarily in the fields of philosophy of science, epistemology, and moral philosophy. more

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“There are actually two separate issues here. The first is whether (as ancient philosophers and Nietzsche assume) only the privileged elite can live a worthwhile life. The second is whether it's possible to fulfill the roles of both serious artist and upstanding citizen. It seems to me that philosophy can dissect both questions, by delineating clearly the anatomy of the good life and the structural conditions of the roles.”

Firsts Two Philosophy Seems Artist Roles Issues Conditions Serious Citizens Assuming Ancient Philosopher Good Life Worthwhile Elites Privileged Anatomy

Author:Philip Kitcher

“Mann's Death in Venice actually contains a snippet of philosophy about the second question, when Aschenbach, collapsed in the plaza, engages in his quasi-Socratic, anti-Socratic, ruminations.”

Philosophy Venice Socratic Rumination Death In Venice

Author:Philip Kitcher

“I suggest in my own discussion of this episode, Mann invites us to set the attempt to philosophize about his predicament in the context of Aschenbach's life. The literary presentation thus adds to the naked philosophical skeleton.”

My Own Philosophical Add Naked Discussion Invites Episodes Presentation Skeletons Predicaments

Author:Philip Kitcher

“The balance between literature and philosophy in Schopenhauer and Nietzsche is different from that struck in the novella, but, as Mann clearly pointed out in his writings about both thinkers, both modes are present.”

Writing Different Philosophy Literature Balance Thinker

Author:Philip Kitcher

“I suspect that any worthwhile exploration of these deep questions about living requires going beyond abstract discussions to the vivid presentation of possibilities. If readers are to be prompted to serious examination of their lives, anatomy isn't enough. We have to be stimulated to imagine, in some detail, what it would be like to live in particular ways.”

Ifs Way Enough Would Be Imagine Possibility Particular Serious Reader Details Discussion Abstract Suspects Exploration Worthwhile Vivid Examination Presentation Anatomy

Author:Philip Kitcher

“In the end, we learn about the most basic philosophical questions - like "How to live?" - from a broad mixture of sources, including literature and philosophy, history and anthropology. These sources can guide our reflections on our own experiences, as we explore and reconsider. Mann contributed to such explorations in a distinctive way, and I hope my book brings that out.”

Way Book Ends Philosophy Literature Source Reflection Philosophical Including Guides Exploration Broads Mixtures Anthropology Distinctive Philosophical Questions

Author:Philip Kitcher

“It is actually against the law for a citizen to give money to a terrorist.”

Giving Law Citizens Terrorist

Author:Lesley Stahl

“I don't think readers of Mann have overlooked the fact that he was a great ironist, but they have tended to see the irony in particular parts of the novella, and to miss it in others.”

Thinking Facts Missing Particular Reader Irony Overlooked

Author:Philip Kitcher

“Even though I want to expand the number of ways in which skilful ironic play happens, I suspect I'm probably guilty of the same shortcoming - and I hope that, one of these days, someone will claim that my book, while it goes in a salutary expansive direction, doesn't go far enough, that there are assumptions I make that show I've missed aspects of Mann's irony and ambiguity.”

Way Want Book Enough Play Shows Happens Numbers Aspect Claims Guilty These Days Irony Assumption Suspects Ironic Ambiguity Shortcomings

Author:Philip Kitcher

“The more you read the novella, the more you should wonder, I think, which judgments are to be taken as bedrock.”

Thinking Should Wonder Taken Judgment Bedrock

Author:Philip Kitcher