fiction
TagPhilosophy, Creativity, and AI
“I sincerely believe that to save the humanities, within which I include philosophy, we are going to have to reconceive what we do as at least in part a creative endeavor—literary, artistic, imaginative, playful, in short, all those things of which a human spirit is capable, and a machine never will be.” (more…)
Best Fiction You Read This Summer
Maybe I can squeeze in time for one more novel. (more…)
Philosophers as Arts and Culture Critics
“Which living philosophers review fiction, movies, television shows, plays, music, art, etc. for non-academic publications?” (more…)
Triumphantly Breaking Free from Academic Philosophy, But Still…
In 2015 I received the National Humanities Medal at a ceremony at the White House. President Obama himself put the medal around my neck, and the rumor was that he made the final choice. In the speech he gave before awarding all the medals, in addition to citing my work on Gödel and Spinoza and Plato, he spoke of me as the philosopher who sometimes chooses to write n..
Philosophical Short Stories
Do you know of any particularly philosophical short stories? (more…)
Philosopher Named Booker Prize Chair
Kwame Anthony Appiah, professor of philosophy and law at New York University, has been named chair of the judges for the 2018 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, one of the world’s most well-known literary awards. (more…)
Competition: Philosophy Through Short Story
To encourage philosophical engagement with the public, the American Philosophical Association (APA) is funding a “Philosophy Through Fiction” short story competition. (more…)
Summer Reading: Your Fiction Suggestions
Ah, summer…. that part of the year in which I like to think I have time to read something besides philosophy. Help me keep the dream alive, philosofriends, and recommend some fiction. If you want to say something about why you’re recommending this or that particular work, be my guest. But you don’t have to. Because it’s summer. (more…)
Writers: Love Your Ideas, But Love Your Readers, Too
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, a philosopher who has written nonfiction for non-philosophers, as well as novels, is interviewed in The Chronicle of Higher Education about writing. Some of her insights about those kinds of writing seem just as relevant to—and helpful for—the kind of writing philosophers typically do.
Chronicle: Is there a way in which writing fi..
Philosopher to Receive 2014 National Humanities Medal
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of the novels The Mind-Body Problem and 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction, as well as books on Gödel and Spinoza, and who wrote last year’s hit work of non-fiction, Plato at the Googleplex: Why Philosophy Won’t Go Away, will be a recipient of one of the ten 2014 National Humanities Medals awarded at a ceremo..
College Pressures Philosopher to Withdraw Novel
Stephen Grant, until recently a lecturer in philosophy at Richmond upon Thames College, was asked by the school to stop the publication of his novel, A Moment More Sublime. While a lecturer there, he was a union representative and involved in the labor disputes at the school, and the novel is partly based on his experiences working there. He says that the story of t..
Nietzsche and the Suburbs
The suburbs.
How deeply we are lost! So deep that we do not know we are lost. How derelict we are! So great that we do not know our dereliction.– – – – – – – –
In an infinite universe, there will be a faraway planet with a suburb just like this one. And there will be you and I talking, looking up at the stars.
– – – – – – – –
The madness of..
Philosofict
Philosofict is a free online magazine of philosophical fiction and poetry. Editor Ellie Farnsworth writes to tell me that the magazine “gives philosophers an avenue for creative release.” The second issue just came out.