Philosophy as Fiction

Is it possible (or desirable) to live without illusions? Can artistry assist in the project of forging a unified self? What does our use of metaphor have to do with who we are? In this groundbreaking study Joshua Landy explores Proust''s original and sophisticated answers to these and related questions. At the same time he asks why Proust chose to embed his theories within a work of fiction-one indeed in which the narrator''s claims cannot always be trusted-rather than a straightforward treatise. What we stand to gain it turns out from reading Proust''s philosophical narrative is something far more than a new way of thinking: it is also and more importantly a new way of living. Provocative and illuminating Philosophy as Fiction will transform the way we think about the relationship between philosophy literature and life.