Jonathan Swift and Philosophy

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H-Ideas Jonathan Swift and philosophy Discussion published by Owen Anderson on Sunday, November 9, 2014 CFA “Jonathan Swift and philosophy” I’m soliciting abstracts for a book on „Jonathan Swift and philosophy” (Lexington Books/Rowman & Littlefield). Although Jonathan Swift is one of the most well-known authors of the English language, this prolific and original writer is still little understood, and hence remains underestimated. Most people see in his Gulliver’s Travels nothing more but a delightful children’s book. His other writings are either unheard of or being dismissed as overly ridiculous or stemming from a misanthropy bordering on the pathological, as, for instance, his scatological poems. This, however, doesn’t do justice to the abilities of the author and the range of his work. The aim of the volume is to place key texts of Swift in their various philosophical and cultural contexts and to thereby disclose their rich philosophical content. This book aims mainly at academics and grad students and is meant to be a serious academic contribution. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: - Platonic government in Brobdingnag - Lilliput, Blefuscu, and the idea of tolerance - Yahoos and animal ethics: What do we owe non-human beings? Citation: Owen Anderson. Jonathan Swift and philosophy. H-Ideas. 11-09-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/6873/discussions/51627/jonathan-swift-and-philosophy Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 1 H-Ideas - Gulliver and the houyhnhnms, or: can speciecism be justified? - Utilitarianism in the country of the houyhnhnms - A tale of a tub, or: finding the golden means - “An argument against abolishing Christianity”, or what do we need religion for? - Laputa and the ethics of science - Balnibari and the threats of technology - The academy of Lagado and the foundations of science - The Struldbruggs and bioethics, or: who wants to live forever? - Lilliputian philosophy of law: punish or reward? - “The battle of the books” and the idea of progress - “In a lady’s dressing room” – Swift and gender - Socratic irony in Swift - Gulliver and Schopenhauer: the philosophy of pessimism - Philosophy of education in Lilliput Citation: Owen Anderson. Jonathan Swift and philosophy. H-Ideas. 11-09-2014. https://networks.h-net.org/node/6873/discussions/51627/jonathan-swift-and-philosophy Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. 2.

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Politics in Jonathan Swift's Literature
CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Repositorio Documental de la Universidad de Valladolid FACULTAD de FILOSOFÍA Y LETRAS DEPARTAMENTO de FILOLOGÍA INGLESA Grado en Estudios Ingleses TRABAJO DE FIN DE GRADO Politics in Jonathan Swift’s Literature Rebeca Carravilla Izquierdo Tutora: Ana Sáez Hidalgo 4º Grado en Estudios Ingleses 2 Abstract Jonathan Swift has been considered one of the most skillful authors of the eighteenth century due to his harsh and accomplished satirist style of writing, and the polemic that it caused in the society of the time. His masterpiece, Gulliver’s Travels, an apparently simple travel book - among many others of the time- seems to camouflage, nevertheless, a brilliant satire that does not differ too much from the political essays and pamphlets published by the same author. In those writings, he harshly criticized the situation of his country by not only blaming Irish politicians and the British government, but also the own population and the stupidity of the human race. In this dissertation, I intend to find out about the author’s ideology through the study of the ideas captured in his literature. For this purpose, I have first analyzed four of Jonathan Swift’s political essays. Then, I have examined Gulliver’s Travels from the perspective of the conclusions reached through these first readings in order to expose the connection between Swift’s political treatises and his fiction. Key words: Jonathan Swift, politics, corruption, Gulliver’s Travels, government, Ireland, England Jonathan Swift es considerado uno de los mejores autores del siglo dieciocho debido a su conseguido estilo satírico y por la polémica que causó en la sociedad de su tiempo.
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