This lecture, titled “In Defence of Poetry Against Philosophy: Reflections on the Possibility of a Poetic Philosophy”, was given at a session devoted to the poetry and philosophical thought of the American poet Wallace Stevens.

YouTube:
https://youtu.be/HsAVQ5HZ7I4

The presentation explores the distinctive possibility that poetry can offer for the transcendence of philosophy.

Throughout the history of Western philosophy there has been a recurring tension between poetry and philosophy. Both depend on language, but within the analytic tradition the task of language is often to clarify truth and to refine language so that it can perform its functional and logical roles with precision. The roots of this project may be traced to Aristotle’s Organon and to the formalisation of logic as an inner language of philosophical reasoning. The trajectory gains new force in the philosophical path that begins after Descartes, takes a decisive form with Frege, and contributes to the emergence of analytic philosophy and the language of philosophy of science; in recent years it has also influenced the languages of machine-learning algorithms and artificial intelligence.

Is this trajectory the end of philosophy and language?

Some philosophers believe poetry has an intrinsic power that exceeds the possibilities of logical and formally structured language. My aim in this short lecture was to offer a condensed account of some of these views: a defence of poetry in its encounter with philosophy, intended to explore the poetic possibilities within philosophical thinking. This is especially important for understanding the Iranian philosophical tradition, which is deeply connected to poetry and literature.

The lecture is presented in two separate recordings.

1) Part One offers a brief history of the interaction between poetry and philosophy, focusing first on Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, then on a new understanding of the possibilities of art, literature and especially poetry that begins with Schopenhauer, becomes more explicit with Nietzsche, and takes a lasting place in philosophy through the literary tradition of existential thought. Heidegger, especially the later Heidegger, occupies a distinctive position in the philosophical examination of poetry. After Heidegger many philosophers addressed this question; among those briefly discussed here are Alain Badiou, Gilles Deleuze and Merleau-Ponty.

2) Part Two considers the important roles of Julia Kristeva and Gadamer in examining the interaction of language and philosophy in the creation of meaning. It also examines poetry and its liberating potential. The views of Hannah Arendt, Giorgio Agamben, Levinas, Rancière and Walter Benjamin are briefly considered in relation to the internal connection between poetry, politics and philosophy.

Finally, I invite those interested in this theme to listen as well to Dr Mostafa Mehrayeen’s illuminating lecture on the value of literature in everyday life:
http://t.me/mostafamehraeen

With thanks,
Aydin Areta