Lyric poetry

Mathew Abbott

pp. 221-239

in: Barry Stocker, Michael Mack (eds), The Palgrave handbook of philosophy and literature, Berlin, Springer, 2018

Abstract

This chapter characterises an aspect of the relationship between philosophy and lyric poetry by giving an account of poetic thought: a mode of thinking in which philosophical contributions are made poetically. When one encounters poetic thinking, it will be harder to detach what has been said from how it has been said; hence poetic thought is resistant to paraphrase in a way that traditional philosophy typically isn't. Yet this raises problems that will remain intractable unless we reconsider what it can mean to think philosophically. Taking poetic thought as this chapter recommends means we can insist on its cognitive and rational dimensions, but without overlooking the crucial role in it of feeling and embodiment.