Philosophy & Literature

About the Book

Philosophy and Literature became a classic interdisciplinary study when it first appeared. It remained in print for 25 years, and was used by both high school and college teachers. Now that interdisciplinary approaches are again highly valued, this anthology of philosophical ideas represented in great literature has made its way back into print.

Poetry, plays, novels and short stories are all included, with a biography of each author. Four main selections are based on the Platonic ideas of truth, beauty, and goodness, with a section on commitment which has a modern relevance. Philosophical works introduce each literary section. There are many questions for students, along with introductions to the thought of each philosopher.

Plato, Aristotle, Descartes and Kant are included, but most of the philosophers are from the 20th century, like most of the authors. Prominent American women are featured among the writers.

This is a 600 page book which can easily serve as course material for a year or two semesters. It was designed for both strong high school and college students. It is ideal for General Education courses (and is used at Roger Williams University, for example, this way).

Many MySpace pages cite this book as "My favorite book, " or "My favorite pastime"! School departments report "We are married to this book!"

About the Author

Other books by Peter Thompson: Négritude et nouveaux mondes, 2nd edition (Wayside Publishing, Maine) -- poetry anthology, African and Caribbean French Littérature moderne du monde francophone (McGraw-Hill Higher Education) -- antholgy of French literature Red Earth (E. Washington U. Press) -- translation of award-winning Véronique Tadjo's Latérite, a book-length poem (Africa) Hearing Your Story (U. of New Orleans Press) -- translation of Nabile Farès (Algeria) book-length poem (on Western Sahara) Passenger from the West (U. New Orleans Press) --translation of Nabile Farès's 1971 novel Daybreak -song lyrics with sheet music for use in class (classical melodies that had never had lyrics); Capital U. Press Exile and helplessness (Diálogos Books)-- translation of Nabile Farès's novel L'Exil et le désarroi