The Will to Believe: Heaney's Pragmatic Marvels
Drawing on William James' philosophy, particularly his pragmatic justifications of religious faith, this article argues that a large body of Seamus Heaney's religious and mystical poetry - including the secular marvels of the later verse - reflect a pragmatic attitude. That is to say, the...
| Published in: | Literature and theology |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
[2017]
|
| In: |
Literature and theology
|
| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality CD Christianity and Culture VA Philosophy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Drawing on William James' philosophy, particularly his pragmatic justifications of religious faith, this article argues that a large body of Seamus Heaney's religious and mystical poetry - including the secular marvels of the later verse - reflect a pragmatic attitude. That is to say, the truth and value of an idea or belief lies in its present effect; how it shapes the world and directs our behaviour. If, then, this reading explores the often self-consciously material grounds of the miraculous and marvellous within Heaney's verse, it nonetheless argues that the verse eschews the scepticism often associated with a materialistic or secular outlook. Jamesian pragmatism, which concedes that the objective existence of the transcendental elements of faith may never be proven to concretely exist, suggests that those elements acquire the property of truth by virtue of the ways in which belief in them shapes and ameliorates our lives. Heaney's equivocation about the existence of a transcendental reality, coupled with his consistent exploration of the human need for the miraculous, and the salutary effect that ideas of the miraculous have within our lives, puts him within this pragmatist tradition. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1477-4623 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Literature and theology
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/litthe/frw008 |