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This study contends that American writer Cormac McCarthy not only is philosophical, or a "writer of ideas," but rather that he has a philosophy. Devoting one main chapter to each facet of McCarthy's thought - his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, respectively - the study engages in focused readings of all of McCarthy's major works. Along the way, the study brings McCarthy's ideas into conversation with a host of philosophers who range from Plato to Alain Badiou, with figures such as William James, Martin Heidegger, Hannah Arendt, and Slavoj Zizek featured prominently. Situated at the crossroads of literary studies, literary theory, cultural studies, continental philosophy, and theology, the appeal of Cormac McCarthy's Philosophy is widespread and deeply interdisciplinary.
List of contents
Introduction.- 1. Metaphysics.- 2. Epistemology and Modernity.- 3. Ethics and Narrative.- Index.
About the author
Ty Hawkins is Associate Professor of English and Director of the Honors Program at Walsh University of Ohio, USA, where he teaches courses in American literature and rhetoric. His first book, Reading Vietnam Amid the War on Terror, appeared in 2012. He has also published in journals such as Critique, College Literature, and Papers on Language and Literature.
Summary
This study contends that American writer Cormac McCarthy not only is philosophical, or a “writer of ideas,” but rather that he has a philosophy. Devoting one main chapter to each facet of McCarthy’s thought – his metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, respectively – the study engages in focused readings of all of McCarthy’s major works. Along the way, the study brings McCarthy’s ideas into conversation with a host of philosophers who range from Plato to Alain Badiou, with figures such as William James, Martin Heidegger, Hannah Arendt, and Slavoj Žižek featured prominently. Situated at the crossroads of literary studies, literary theory, cultural studies, continental philosophy, and theology, the appeal of Cormac McCarthy’s Philosophy is widespread and deeply interdisciplinary.
Report
"Given the breadth of his corpus . . . McCarthy would seem to pose an unusual challenge for this kind of analysis. Undeterred, Ty Hawkins takes up the challenge in his new book Cormac McCarthy's Philosophy-an audacious and often brilliant amplification of this form of literary scholarship and an important critical resource for understanding McCarthy's oeuvre. . . . [F]uture Cormackians will find much to ponder as they think through and with Hawkins's McCarthian philosophy." (Raymond Malewitz, The Cormac McCarthy Journal, Vol. 16 (1), 2018)
