Derek Matravers
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199243167
- eISBN:
- 9780191697227
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199243167.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics, Philosophy of Mind
This book examines how emotions form a bridge between our experience of art and of life. We often find that a particular poem, painting, or piece of music carries an emotional charge; we may also ...
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This book examines how emotions form a bridge between our experience of art and of life. We often find that a particular poem, painting, or piece of music carries an emotional charge; we may also experience emotions towards, or on behalf of, a particular fictional character. These experiences are philosophically puzzling, for their causes seem quite different from the causes of emotion in the rest of our lives. Using many literary, visual and musical examples, this book shows that what these experiences have in common, and what links them to the expression of emotion in non-artistic cases, is the role played by feeling. It surveys various accounts of the nature of fiction, attacks contemporary cognitivist accounts of expression, and offers an uncompromising defence of a controversial view about musical expression: that music expresses the emotions it causes its listeners to feel. Whilst this book engages with the work of contemporary theorists, it remains accessible to readers without philosophical training.Less
This book examines how emotions form a bridge between our experience of art and of life. We often find that a particular poem, painting, or piece of music carries an emotional charge; we may also experience emotions towards, or on behalf of, a particular fictional character. These experiences are philosophically puzzling, for their causes seem quite different from the causes of emotion in the rest of our lives. Using many literary, visual and musical examples, this book shows that what these experiences have in common, and what links them to the expression of emotion in non-artistic cases, is the role played by feeling. It surveys various accounts of the nature of fiction, attacks contemporary cognitivist accounts of expression, and offers an uncompromising defence of a controversial view about musical expression: that music expresses the emotions it causes its listeners to feel. Whilst this book engages with the work of contemporary theorists, it remains accessible to readers without philosophical training.
Hélène Cixous
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748639038
- eISBN:
- 9780748653638
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748639038.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This chapter addresses the question of ‘character’ and the question of the nature of fiction. It defines ‘character’ as created or preconceived by an author, and is meant to be figured out, ...
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This chapter addresses the question of ‘character’ and the question of the nature of fiction. It defines ‘character’ as created or preconceived by an author, and is meant to be figured out, understood, and read. It shows the importance of the ‘character’ in plays and novels, and examines the ‘life-source’, which is the source of writing and of musical notation. The chapter also discusses the paradox of representation and the theatricalisation of the theatre.Less
This chapter addresses the question of ‘character’ and the question of the nature of fiction. It defines ‘character’ as created or preconceived by an author, and is meant to be figured out, understood, and read. It shows the importance of the ‘character’ in plays and novels, and examines the ‘life-source’, which is the source of writing and of musical notation. The chapter also discusses the paradox of representation and the theatricalisation of the theatre.
