Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1997

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Pearce, Howard D.

Abstract

Henry James's and Plato's presumed ideological incompatibility is fostered in part by the philosopher's well documented censure of literature and the arts and by his belief that true knowledge is secured by purely rational apprehension. Henry James, however, contends that the philosopher and novelist have comparable concerns, for both seek truth and the origins and meaning of virtue. Plato's conception of knowledge and ethics, however, differs markedly from James's: if true knowledge is commensurate with rational apprehension, emotions and imagination distort rather than elucidate truth. Yet is there but a single path to knowledge? In What Maisie Knew James illustrates that learning, like narrative, is an experiential process involving intuition, emotion, and imagination. Moreover, although Jamesian and Platonic thought may appear antithetical, a comprehensive study of their works reveals not only the expected differences, but certain unexpected discursive and ideological similarities.

Extent

63 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1997.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT15360

Format

pdf

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