Being Played: Gadamer and Philosophy's Hidden DynamicAre we being played? Is our understanding of the traditionally fixed and static concepts of philosophy based on an oversimplification? This book explores some of the theories of the self since Descartes, together with the rationalism and the empiricism that sustain these ideas, and draws some startling conclusions using Gadamer's philosophical study of play as its starting point. Gadamer's ludic theory, Sampson argues, reveals a dynamic of play that exists at the deepest level of philosophy. It is this dynamic that could provide a solution in relation to the Gadamer/Habermas hermeneutics debate and the Gadamer/Derrida relativism debate, together with a theory of totality. Sampson shows how ludic theory can be a game-changer in understanding the relationship between philosophy and literature, exploring the dynamic between the fictive and non-fictive worlds. These worlds are characterized simultaneously by sameness (univocity of Being) and difference (equivocity of Being). The book questions Heidegger's idea that the univocity of Being is universal, instead maintaining that the relationship between the univocity of Being and equivocity of Being is real, and that ontological mediation is required to present them as a unified whole. Using the works of Shakespeare, Beckett and Wilde, Sampson contends that such a mediation, termed 'the ludicity of Being', takes place between literature and its audience. This literary example has profound implications not only for literature and its attendant theories but also for philosophy - in particular, ontology and hermeneutics. This book will be of particular interest to scholars of philosophy and literature, for it seeks to develop our understanding of ontology and hermeneutics. It should also engage the general reader who wishes to understand literature and philosophy with a genuinely new set of perspectives. |
Contents
The State of Play | 1 |
Gadamers Dynamic Equilibrium | 19 |
Habermas Red Card and the Circle | 36 |
The Philosopher | 67 |
Space to Play | 89 |
Lived by Powers We Pretend to Understand | 115 |
Tarrying as the Still Point of Play | 161 |
Play and the Art of Wasting Time | 195 |
of Being and Totality | 215 |
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Common terms and phrases
According to Gadamer Aristotle artwork audience Beckett becoming and return Bottomless Chessboard C.S. Lewis Cambridge Cartesian chapter characters circle of critical claims comedy context contrast Costache counterpresence critical reciprocity critical reflection cultural Derrida Descartes dialectic dialogue dramatic rhyming dwelling emerges empirical empiricism ereignis essay Estragon explore festival fictive Gadamer argues Gadamer asserts Gadamer’s Guardini H-G Gadamer Habermas Hans Georg Gadamer Heidegger Heidegger’s highlights holy order Ibid idea indeterminacy instance of play interplay interpretation Kant knowledge language literature London ludic dynamic ludic theory means merely metanarrative metaphor metaphysics Midsummer Night’s Dream narrative nature original paradox phenomenon of play philosophical hermeneutics phronesis player Plotinus poetic present provisionality and essentiality rationalism and empiricism reason relation relationship revealed Scotus seems sense Shakespeare significant tarrying teleology temporal things totality tradition trivial truth ultimately understanding University Press univocity and equivocity Waiting for Godot Weinsheimer Wittgenstein words