The Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Pale King and Infinite Jest weighs in on a philosophical controversy in this fascinating early work.
In 1962, the philosopher Richard Taylor used six commonly accepted presuppositions to imply that human beings have no control over the future. David Foster Wallace not only took issue with Taylor's method, which, according to him, scrambled the relations of logic, language, and the physical world, but also detected a semantic trick at the heart of Taylor's argument.
Fate, Time, and Language presents Wallace's brilliant critique of Taylor's work. Written long before the publication of his fiction and essays, Wallace's thesis reveals his great skepticism of abstract thinking and any school of thought that abandons "the very old traditional human verities that have to do with spirituality and emotion and community." As Wallace rises to meet the challenge to free will presented by Taylor, we witness the developing perspective of this major novelist, along with his struggle to establish solid logical ground for his convictions.
This volume, edited by Steven M. Cahn and Maureen Eckert, reproduces Taylor's original article and other works on fatalism cited by Wallace. James Ryerson's introduction connects Wallace's early philosophical work to the themes and explorations of his later fiction, and Jay Garfield supplies a critical biographical epilogue.
- New Non-fiction eBooks
- Most popular
- New Fiction eBooks
- New York Times Bestsellers - Adult Fiction eBooks (Updated April 15th)
- New York Times Bestsellers - Adult Non-Fiction eBooks (Updated April 15th)
- New YA eBook
- See all
- New Non-fiction eAudiobooks
- Most popular
- New Fiction eAudiobooks
- New York Times Bestsellers - Adult Fiction Audiobooks (Updated April 15th)
- New York Times Bestsellers - Adult Non-Fiction Audiobooks (Updated April 15th)
- New YA eAudio
- See all
- Popular magazines
- Business & Finance Magazines
- Cooking, Food & Drink
- Craft Magazines
- Fashion Magazines
- Gaming
- Gardening and Landscape
- Kids Magazines
- Health and Fitness Magazines
- Hobbies
- House and Home
- Men's magazines
- Science & Technology Magazines
- See all