Philosophy, Literature and Understanding

Philosophy, Literature, and Understanding is a rich and rewarding inquiry into the epistemic functions of literature. Drawing on aesthetics, literary theory, criticism, and cognitive science it argues that literature is cognitively valuable because it advances understanding. --Catherine Z. Elgin, Professor of the Philosophy of Education, Harvard University, USA Jukka Mikkonen's Philosophy, Literature and Understanding: On Reading and Cognition elegantly presents new arguments to advance the research project known as literary cognitivism. ... for cognitivists of all stripes, the exciting arguments found here should be of serious interest. --British Journal of Aesthetics In this insightful and erudite inquiry, Mikkonen offers a substantive modification of what 'cognitivism' encompasses within the philosophy of literature. --Professor Tzachi Zamir, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel The experience of literature may not reach out and directly change the world, but it can change our way of seeing the world. Offering an enriched understanding of how it is that we gain from literature what we do, Jukka Mikkonen's welcome new volume casts much light on our imaginative entry into a text, on the sense-making power of narrative, and, taken in toto, the special role literature can play in the examined life. --Garry L. Hagberg, James H. Ottaway Professor of Philosophy and Aesthetics, Bard College, USA