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The Ethical Imagination in Shakespeare and Heidegger
While large bodies of scholarship exist on the plays of Shakespeare and the philosophy of Heidegger, this book is the first to read these two influential figures alongside one another, and to reveal how they can help us develop a creative and contemplative sense of ethics, or an 'ethical imagination'.
Following the increased interest in reading Shakespeare philosophically, it seems only fitting that an encounter take place between the English language's most prominent poet and the philosopher widely considered to be central to continental philosophy. Interpreting the plays of Shakespeare through the writings of Heidegger and vice versa, each chapter pairs a select play with a select work of philosophy. In these pairings the themes, events, and arguments of each work are first carefully unpacked, and then key passages and concepts are taken up and read against and through one another. As these hermeneutic engagements and cross-readings unfold we find that the words and deeds of Shakespeare's characters uniquely illuminate, and are uniquely illuminated by, Heidegger's phenomenological analyses of being, language, and art.
Following the increased interest in reading Shakespeare philosophically, it seems only fitting that an encounter take place between the English language's most prominent poet and the philosopher widely considered to be central to continental philosophy. Interpreting the plays of Shakespeare through the writings of Heidegger and vice versa, each chapter pairs a select play with a select work of philosophy. In these pairings the themes, events, and arguments of each work are first carefully unpacked, and then key passages and concepts are taken up and read against and through one another. As these hermeneutic engagements and cross-readings unfold we find that the words and deeds of Shakespeare's characters uniquely illuminate, and are uniquely illuminated by, Heidegger's phenomenological analyses of being, language, and art.
272 pages, Paperback
Published February 21, 2019
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August 24, 2019
For an introduction to the works of Martin Heidegger (a philosopher I’ve been on the fence about since starting my graduate studies), his ideas are spread out thinly when not directly quoting Ancient Greeks or modern Germans. I can sense how Being, Time, Dasein and nearly every other capitalized proper noun are innovative ideas, I just can’t see how they cohere, even with the ambitious attempt to link them to the works of William Shakespeare. Here the plays are well chosen for their thematic complexity, and I suppose for hitting the ethical nail on its phenomenological head. And yet key chapters on Hamlet, Coriolanus and A Winter’s Tale have lengthy excerpts from each play copied out (often missing the proper spacing for shared lines between characters) and then a rudimentary recap of what Shakespeare wrote more eloquently. Perhaps with a deeper understanding of the big books of Heidegger will illuminate Amato’s arguments, but there are so, so many other ways to interpret the plays’ texts.
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