Three Philosophical Poets - George Santayana - Bruktbok - Innbundet

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Innbundet
Brukt bok. Synlig slitasje.
Språk: Engelsk
Vekt: 0,334
Sider: 215
Trykket i: 1944
Illustrert: Nei
ISBN: xx
Oppdatert: 22.10.2026
Internkode: EES99 
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CONTENTS

I - INTRODUCTION

Lucretius, Dante, and Goethe sum up the chief phases of European philosophy,—naturalism, supernaturalism, and romanticism—Ideal relation between philosophy and poetry.

II - LUCRETIUS

Development of Greek cosmology—Democritus—Epicurean moral sentiment —Changes inspired by it in the system of Democritus—Accidental alliance of materialism with hedonism—Imaginative value of naturalism: The Lucretian Venus, or the propitious movement in nature—The Lucretian Mars, or the destructive movement—Preponderant melancholy, and the reason for it—Materiality of the soul—The fear of death and the fear of life—Lucretius a true poet of nature—Comparison with Shelley and Wordsworth—Things he might have added consistently: Indefeasible worth of his insight and sentiment.

III - DANTE

Character of Platonism—Its cosmology a parable—Combination of this with Hebraic philosophy of history—Theory of the Papacy and the Empire adopted by Dante—His judgement on Florence—Dante as a lyric poet—Beatrice the woman, the symbol, and the reality—Love, magic, and symbolism constitutive principles of Dante's universe—Idea of the Divine Comedy—The scheme of virtues and vices—Retributive theory of rewards and punishments—Esoteric view of this, which makes even punishment intrinsic to the sins—Examples—Dantesque cosmography—The genius of the poet—His universal scope—His triumphant execution of the Comedy—His defects, in spite of which he remains the type of a supreme poet.

IV - GOETHE'S FAUST

The romantic spirit—The ideals of the Renaissance—Expression of both in the legendary Faust—Marlowe's version—Tendency to vindicate Faust—Contrast with Calderon's "Wonder-working Magician"—The original Faust of Goethe,—universal ambition and eternal dissatisfaction —Modifications—The series of experiments in living—The story of Gretchen fitted in—Goethe's naturalistic theory of life and rejuvenation: Helen—The classic manner and the judgement on classicism—Faust's last ambition—The conflict over his soul and his ascent to heaven symbolical—Moral of the whole.

V - CONCLUSION

Comparison of the three poets—Their relative rank—Ideal of a philosophic or comprehensive poet—Untried possibilities of art.