Daniel Defoe and the Representation of Personal Identity / Christopher Borsing Tapa blanda - 2019

New. The concept of a personal identity was a contentious issue in the early eighteenth century. John Locke's philosophical discussion of personal identity in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding fostered a public debate upon the status of an immortal Christian soul. This book argues that Defoe, like many of this age, had religious difficulties with Locke's empiricist analysis of human identity. In particular, it examines how Defoe explores competitive individualism as a social threat while also demonstrating the literary and psychological fiction of any concept of a separated, lone identity. This foreshadows Michel Foucault's assertion that the idea of man is 'a recent invention, a figure not yet two centuries old, a new wrinkle in our knowledge'. The monograph's engagement with Defoe's destabilization of any definition or image of personal identity across a wide range of genres - including satire, political propaganda, history, conduct literature, travel narrative,… Leer más

Paperback / softback. New.

New. New Book; Fast Shipping from UK; Not signed; Not First Edition; Based on close reading of a representative range of Defoe’s writing, Borsing presents a study of Defoe’s engagement with the concept of personal identity, exploring his construction of personae, his forays into different literary ge

Taylor & Francis, 2019. Paperback. New. reprint edition. 201 pages. 9.00x6.00x0.50 inches.

paperback. Good. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. May be an ex-library book.