Proust as Philosopher: The Art of Metaphor

by Miguel de Beistegui

Marcel Proust s "In Search of Lost Time" has long fascinated philosophers for its complex accounts of time, personal identity and narrative, amongst many other themes. "Proust as The Art of Metaphor" is the first book to try and connect Proust s implicit ontology of experience with the question of style, and of metaphor in particular.Miguel de Beistegui begins with an throughout "In Search of Lost Time," the two main characters seem prone to chronic dissatisfaction in matters of love, friendship and even art. Reality always falls short of expectation. At the same time, the narrator experiences unexpected bouts of intense elation, the cause and meaning of which remain elusive. Beistegui argues we should understand these experiences as acts of artistic creation, and that this is why Proust himself wrote that true life is the life of art.He goes on to explore the nature of these joyful and pleasurable experiences and the transformation required of art, and particularly literature, if it is to incorporate them. He concludes that Proust revolutionises the idea of metaphor, extending beyond the confines of language to understand the nature of lived, bodily experience.

Genres: Philosophy

130 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Miguel de Beistegui teaches in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Warwick, England.

Beistegui was educated in France (BA, MA in Philosophy at the Sorbonne), the US (Ph.D., Loyola University of Chicago), and Germany (Postdoc, Hegel-Archiv, Bochum).

He specialises in 20th century German and French philosophy, and has published books and articles in the following areas: ontology, metaphysics, aesthetics, ethics and politics.

Initially specialising in the thought of Martin Heidegger, and in phenomenology in general, he has become convinced that philosophy needs to resist extreme specialisation and develop the conceptual tools to engage with our time. This means that it needs to bring together the various branches of philosophy, but also establish a dialogue between philosophy and the other disciplines, in the social as well as the natural sciences. His research and activities of the last ten years reflect such a commitment.