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...
Publicado no: | Literature and theology |
---|---|
Autor principal: | |
Tipo de documento: | Recurso Electrónico Artigo |
Idioma: | Inglês |
Verificar disponibilidade: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Publicado em: |
Oxford University Press
[2017]
|
Em: |
Literature and theology
Ano: 2017, Volume: 31, Número: 1, Páginas: 99-114 |
Classificações IxTheo: | CB Existência cristã CD Cristianismo ; Cultura VA Filosofia |
Acesso em linha: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (doi) |
Resumo: | 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 |
Obras secundárias: | Enthalten in: Literature and theology
|
Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/litthe/frw008 |