A Common Sky (Part 1): Philosophy and the Literary Imagination

0/5 ( ratings)

“This book is about solipsistic fear; that is, the fear that the external world of trees, tables, bricks and mortar may not exist at all. Solipsism as a settled system of belief is quite properly regarded as something absurd, or even comic; no one but a philosopher – no, a lunatic philosopher – could believe that. But it sometimes happens that an idea which is in the strictest sense of the word incredible can prove a fertile source of disquiet....”

Thus A. D. Nuttall opens the first part of A Common Sky, his brilliant wide-ranging exploration of what happens when an inclination towards solipsism is indulged in both philosophy and literature. This wonderfully readable work here investigates the writings of John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume to present both a superb account of Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy and a compelling exploration of the poetry of William Wordsworth and Gerard Manley Hopkins. His approach is ingenious, profound and one of common sense, his conclusions illuminating and optimistic.

A. D. Nuttall is acknowledged as one of the finest literary critics of his generation. Known for his studies of Shakespeare, he is equally highly regarded for his work on the connections between philosophy and literature. He was a Fellow of the British Academy and Professor of English and Fellow of New College, Oxford. A Common Sky was originally published in 1974 when Nuttall was Professor of English at the University of Sussex.

Part 2 of A Common Sky will be available shortly.