Reason and its Self-Contradictions in Jonathan Swift’s A Tale of a Tub
0
조회
0
다운로드
0
인용
0
참고문헌
키워드
초록
This paper traces some self-contradictory aspects for the role of reason which Jonathan Swift paradoxically reveals in his allegorical prose, A Tale of a Tub. A Tale of a Tub satirizes both the abuses of religion and learning, the former in the allegory of the coats and the latter in digressions. These two parts, however, are held together by Swift’s engagement with the role and use of reason. In the allegory, he sees the religious attitudes of Peter and Jack as mistreatment of reason, targeting both Catholicism and Puritanism, while he critiques in the digressions contemporary philosophers, such as Locke, Descartes and Hobbes, as being without reason. Although he thus satirizes human reason, at the same time, as an Anglican rationalist, he paradoxically requires rational compromise. He thus develops a self-contradictory position whereby the corruption and misuse of corruption could be cured by reason alone. Swift suggests that rejection of reason on the one hand could lead to religious fanaticism or atheism, while excessive trust of reason by modern philosophers, on the other hand, can equally be seen as a form of madness.
Abstract
This paper traces some self-contradictory aspects for the role of reason which Jonathan Swift paradoxically reveals in his allegorical prose, A Tale of a Tub. A Tale of a Tub satirizes both the abuses of religion and learning, the former in the allegory of the coats and the latter in digressions. These two parts, however, are held together by Swift’s engagement with the role and use of reason. In the allegory, he sees the religious attitudes of Peter and Jack as mistreatment of reason, targeting both Catholicism and Puritanism, while he critiques in the digressions contemporary philosophers, such as Locke, Descartes and Hobbes, as being without reason. Although he thus satirizes human reason, at the same time, as an Anglican rationalist, he paradoxically requires rational compromise. He thus develops a self-contradictory position whereby the corruption and misuse of corruption could be cured by reason alone. Swift suggests that rejection of reason on the one hand could lead to religious fanaticism or atheism, while excessive trust of reason by modern philosophers, on the other hand, can equally be seen as a form of madness.
참고문헌 (12)
- Adams, Robert M, "Satiric Incongruity and the Inner Defeat of the Mind (The Writings of Jonathan Swift)", pp.704~711 (1973), New York: Norton
- Atkins, G. Douglas, "Interpretation and Meaning in A Tale of a Tub", Essays in Literature, 8(2), pp.233~239 (1981)
- Guthkelch, A. C, "A Tale of a Tub" (1958), Oxford: Clarendon
- Harth, Phillip, "Swift and Anglican Rationalism: The Religious Background of A Tale of a Tub" (1961), Chicago: U of Chicago P
- Locke, John, "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" (1975), Oxford: Clarendon
- Lund, Roger D, "Strange Complicities: Atheism and Conspiracy in A Tale of a Tub", Eighteenth Century Life, 13, pp.45~48 (1989)
- Montag, Warren, "The Unthinkable Swift: The Spontaneous Philosophy of a Church of England Man" (1994), London: Verso
- Mueller, Judith C, "A Tale of a Tub and Early Prose (The Cambridge Companion to Jonathan Swift)", pp.202~214 (2003), Cambridge: Cambridge UP
- Popkin, Richard H, "Theories of Knowledge (The Cambridge History of Renaissance Philosophy)", pp.668~684 (1988), Cambridge: Cambridge UP
- Reilly, Patrick, "Jonathan Swift: The Brave Desponder" (1982), Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP
- Speck, W. A, "Swift" (1970), New York: Arco
- Ward, David, "Jonathan Swift: An Introductory Essay" (1973), London: Methuen