Platonic Perfectionism in John Williams’ Stoner
Gåvertsson, Frits LU
(2020)
In SATS Northern European Journal of Philosophy
21(1).
p.39-60
- Abstract
- I argue that given a plausible reading of John Williams’s Stoner (2012 [1965]) the novel throws light on the demands and costs of pursuing a strategy for self-realisation along Platonic lines which seeks unification through the adoption of a single exclusive end in a manner that emulates the Socratic maieutic teacher. The novel does not explicitly argue either for or against such a strategy but rather vividly depicts its difficulties, appeal, and limitations, thus leaving the ultimate evaluation up to the reader.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/f94875c7-81f9-485d-af16-afd2dabfc66d
- author
- Gåvertsson, Frits
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2020-07
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- John Williams, Stoner, Philosophy and Literature, Aristotle, Plato
- in
- SATS Northern European Journal of Philosophy
- volume
- 21
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 21 pages
- publisher
- De Gruyter
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85095612301
- ISSN
- 1869-7577
- DOI
- 10.1515/sats-2019-0028
- project
- John Williams, Moral Perfectionist
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- f94875c7-81f9-485d-af16-afd2dabfc66d
- alternative location
- https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/sats/21/1/article-p39.xml
- date added to LUP
- 2020-11-25 14:43:38
- date last changed
- 2022-12-08 20:44:26
@article{f94875c7-81f9-485d-af16-afd2dabfc66d,
abstract = {{I argue that given a plausible reading of John Williams’s Stoner (2012 [1965]) the novel throws light on the demands and costs of pursuing a strategy for self-realisation along Platonic lines which seeks unification through the adoption of a single exclusive end in a manner that emulates the Socratic maieutic teacher. The novel does not explicitly argue either for or against such a strategy but rather vividly depicts its difficulties, appeal, and limitations, thus leaving the ultimate evaluation up to the reader.}},
author = {{Gåvertsson, Frits}},
issn = {{1869-7577}},
keywords = {{John Williams; Stoner; Philosophy and Literature; Aristotle; Plato}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1}},
pages = {{39--60}},
publisher = {{De Gruyter}},
series = {{SATS Northern European Journal of Philosophy}},
title = {{Platonic Perfectionism in John Williams’ Stoner}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/sats-2019-0028}},
doi = {{10.1515/sats-2019-0028}},
volume = {{21}},
year = {{2020}},
}