Shakespeare, Philosophy, and Literature

This volume brings together a group of essays that examine the relationship between philosophy and literature - disciplines that have been opposed as often as they have been combined. While the focus is primarily on the plays of Shakespeare, there is a lengthy essay on the use of the style term maniera in art history, and a concluding survey and analysis of the relationship between philosophy and literature, from Plato to the present. The author applies the theory of meaning and logical analysis to contemporary problems in the arts and aesthetics.

The Author: Morris Weitz (1916-1981) received a B.A. degree at Wayne State University and, after graduate work in history at the University of Chicago, received a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Michigan. During a distinguished career, Weitz taught philosophy and the history of ideas principally at Vassar College, Ohio State and Brandeis universities. He received many awards, fellowships, and lecture invitations. In his first book, Philosophy of the Arts (1950), and in his many subsequent books and articles, critics noted his close acquaintance with the arts themselves, including: literature, painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, and film. The Editor: Margaret Collins Weitz is Professor of Humanities at Suffolk University (Boston) and a Senior Affiliate of Harvard University.