Senior School Essay Competition

Senior School Essay Competition Literature provides access to truths, particularly philosophical and theological truths, that cannot be expressed in any other way.

By Charlie Ballaro (L6H2)

In this essay, I will argue that literature gives us access to certain insights on the human condition that can reach a level of profundity over the philosophical arguments of reality and knowledge often presented in philosophical texts, and we can see this not just in literature and fiction but in the literary parts of philosophy. The truths presented to us in literature also provide a greater sense of motivation and emotion due to the assorted styles of language used (whether it be simple colloquial terms or esoteric and verbose language).

Philosophy is often looked upon as the science of knowledge and a subject filled with rational thinking and clear and precise arguments. However, as Khataniar suggests in his article “Philosophy and Literature: Certain Aspects of their Relationship”, philosophy can enter a realm of literary language and analysis where texts engage with fictional events in order to build up arguments and philosophical ideas. The most famous examples of this are Plato’s Dialogues, in which Plato uses the characters of Socrates and many other people to explain different theories through their dialogue. Here the language and structure of a fictional dialogue not only allows for a clear philosophical concept to be portrayed and explained, but for further nuance and complexity in

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the presentations of these ideologies, like in Plato’s The Republic where Plato portrays Thrasymachus as a hotheaded “wild beast” to undermine his view on justice and the type of people who hold similar views.

There are several other key dialogues throughout all philosophical literature such as Berkeley’s Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous and many more, due to the clarity and ease of understanding that the medium of dialogue brings with it. As well as this, the realms of poetry and philosophy can also be combined to create texts with a much greater fictious nature that use allegory and symbols to convey the theories of the author. One key example of this being Nietzsche’s Thus Spake Zarathustra, where Nietzsche uses the character of Zarathustra and his reactions towards the different events of the text to present the core ideals of his philosophical and religious nihilism. Alongside these two facets of literature in philosophy, literature can be seen in one of the most integral parts of philosophical discussion: thought experiments. Thought experiments are used to enable the reader to clearly grasp the concepts and difficulties of a philosophical issue; fiction is used here to create exaggerated and extreme examples to further the understanding of the reader, with examples of Kant’s Axe-Murderer, Descartes’ Evil Demon, Harman’s Brainin-a-Vat, and the Utilitarian Train Track thought experiment showing this. Here fiction is used to create scenarios that are so incredibly fabricated and bizarre that the philosophical ideas relating to them are apparent and can be tested against the experiment or be made simpler to understand. In the ways shown above, literature can allow philosophical texts to impart their

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theories in a convincing and simple way which allows for the reader to understand them fully and even be emotionally motivated by them.

Literature itself can also be used to impart truths and ideas that philosophy cannot impart in the same way, through the use of language. The truths and messages uncovered by literature are incredibly different from those uncovered through philosophy, because the insights of literature are not presented in a deductive argumentative form, and neither are they clear and distinct in how they appear to us (something that philosophers such as Descartes hold as vital to the validity and credibility of an idea).

Literature is often characterized by suggestiveness in how it merely suggests the moral and existential concerns of humanity which cannot be presented with intellectual clarity, instead of stating it outright. And as Khataniar says, “Some of our deepest emotive concerns may thereby be stoked. Some of the moral and existential concerns of humanity defy intellectual clarity. Philosophy does not have this emotionally motivating factor and so can fail to inspire and move us in the same way”.

The ideas of literature are often presented in very subtle and nuanced ways, such as in Robert Frost’s “MendingWall”. Alongside presenting an ideology that conflicts with the ideas of borders between people, shown through the speaker’s distaste in his fellow farmer’s thought of “Good fences make good neighbours” and the comparison he draws with the farmer and an “old-stone savage”, Frost also manages to present an insight that combats Kant's

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theory that work and the aesthetic activity are antagonistic. Lentricchia says in his study Robert Frost: Modern Poetics and the Landscapes of Self that Kant’s theory is disproven as “the narrator makes work take on the aesthetic dimension” when the narrator refers to rocks that he and the other farmer place on the broken wall and how they “have to use a spell to make them balance”. In this way, as Lentricchia points out, the narrator “redeems work by transforming it into the pleasure of an outdoor game in which you need to cast spells to make rocks balance”. Here we can see the intricacies of tone and language being used in a way that can present ideas of the value of connection between people as well as refute philosophical theories of work, presenting work in a positive and aesthetic way.

The intersection between literature and philosophy that we can see in the use of dialogue and thought experiments also goes both ways in presenting philosophical ideas in a very similar way to philosophical texts in literature. A key example of this is William Wordsworth’s The Prelude in which Wordsworth delves into and explains the didactic effect Nature has had on him. This focus on the source of his knowledge and character echoes the same type of thinking as Empiricist thinkers, who argue that all of our knowledge comes from our experience. Through the language of the poem, Wordsworth presents Nature as not an “object” but as a presence and a power; a motion and a spirit; not something to be worshiped and consumed, but always a guide leading beyond itself (Hartman, 1954); Nature’s depiction goes from being a “playmate” who composed Wordsworth’s thoughts to have “an infant softness” as a

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child to being a vengeful “huge cliff” who inspires a “blank desertion” in Wordsworth as punishment for disrespecting Nature. As well as this, Wordsworth also uses a similar allegorical technique to most of philosophy by presenting nature through the lens of his memories, which play the role of thought experiment. In this way, The Prelude becomes an intensely philosophical text in his meaning as well as the method it uses to convey that meaning.

In conclusion, through the methods of Literature, philosophical ideas can be conveyed in unique and effective ways that can move a reader emotionally. This can be seen in both the adaption of literary techniques in philosophical texts such as dialogue and fictional thought experiments and the nuances of language in literature.

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Select Bibliography

Khataniar, A., 2020, “Philosophy and Literature: Certain Aspects of their Relationship”, in European Journal of Molecular and Clinical Medicine 7. Accessed at https://ejmcm.com/article_2023.html.

Plato, The Republic. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2013.

Frost, R., 1914, North of Boston. First World Publishing. Wordsworth, W., 1850, Prelude. Boston: David R Godine, 2018.

Lentricchia, R. F., 1975, Modern Poetics and the Landscapes of Self. Duke University Press.

Hartman, G. H, 1954, The Romance of Nature and the Negative Way in Wordsworth’s Poetry 1787-1814. Yale University Press.

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Krish Gadhia (L6C1) on The Way of a Pilgrim

The Way of a Pilgrim documents the journey of an unknown pilgrim through Russia, Ukraine, and Serbia. The book as well as following his physical journey also follows his spiritual progression within his own life.

No one is certain about the authorship of this book or the identity of the monk himself. The book is set in the 19th century against the backdrop of the Crimean War. In the book, the pilgrim roams from village to village gaining spiritual guidance. From my reading of the book, I have identified three main teachings from the pilgrim's journey which teach human beings to live well, which are humility, surrender, and prayer. The book does this by using each experience of the monk to communicate a certain moral or teaching which broadly falls under the three pillars of humility, surrender, and prayer. The reason that I have found that these three ideas are integral to teaching a human being to live well is because they allow the pilgrim to live spiritual accomplished life, which rids him of suffering and fills him with compassion and devotion which I believe to be a fulfilling life. The book places an extreme amount of emphasis on humility when it comes to the pilgrim's journey. There is a clear spiritual pathway that the pilgrim is embarking on which is that of an “ignorant soul more and more towards humility”. If one is humble, one is welcoming and loving to other people, which results in the monk having a less prejudiced view of the world. The monk due to his constant reminders of humility, never believes himself to be overly advanced in the path of devotion; he always feels like he could do better and progress on his journey.

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Humility also allowed the pilgrim to forgive those who stole from him as he believed that they had stolen out of necessity; as Jesus said in the Bible, “If any man will take away your coat, let him have thy cloak as well”. This humility can be applied to life today as it will allow humans to weaken the strong hierarchies and supremacies which we have manufactured and create a much more equal and loving society. Seeing everyone as equal and yourself as a servant allows one to be free of the shackles of hatred and negativity which are roadblocks to a fulfilling life.

A second teaching the book provides humans is that of surrender. Out of all the hardship that the pilgrim goes through during his journey, he constantly stays positive and has firm faith in the plan and will of God. The pilgrim completely surrenders to the will of God and takes all events, good or bad, as a gift from the Lord. This was teaching the pilgrim received from his spiritual teacher who commanded the pilgrim to “let every action be a cause of your remembering and praising God!” In this way, through the example of the pilgrim we are taught to constantly take every action as a blessing; this leads to an unbroken state of contentment with whatever God intends for us. In poverty and pain, the pilgrim still praises God for what God has provided. In the modern world, where greed is the driving force, the pilgrim teaches us that in life being happy with all,

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whether it is positive or negative, is an extremely important skill, as it removes us from our greed and allows happiness and gratitude to blossom if we surrender to the plan of God.

The way in which the book expects the reader to internalise these characteristics and these tenets of a good life is by being constantly absorbed in prayer. Throughout the book, the pilgrim's main aim is to internalise the Jesus Prayer. The Jesus Prayer is known as the Eastern “Prayer of the Heart”, which reads “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This prayer has been taught and venerated throughout the history of the Orthodox Church. The prayer is an essential tenet of the Philokalia which is the spiritual text that the monk constantly meditates on. The prayer itself is a constant reminder of humility; it communicates the downfallen state of humanity and recognises Jesus as the saviour, which allows the pilgrim to be so humble and grounded in the face of struggle, as aforementioned.

Prayer is integral to human beings' well-being as it is a constant reflection on the divine which the book teaches to be the main aggregate of human life and of the Christian journey. When the pilgrim's aim to “pray without ceasing” is achieved, he described his soul as “filled with gratitude for the Lord, while my heart languished in unceasing joy.” This constant joy and gratitude is an extremely large part of living a good life, and one which is completely fulfilling as it is filled with thankfulness to the universe and to the divine, as he surrenders himself, his actions, his possessions and his thoughts all at the altar of Jesus. This prayer leads to the pilgrim forever

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progressing in spirituality and to be always dedicated to living a better life which is a teaching which can definitely help humans live well.

In conclusion, the way of the pilgrim, through the example of a spiritual seeker, teaches the consumer three lessons which, despite being written two hundred years ago, still possess large amount of potency in our modern life. The teachings are humility, surrender, and prayer. Prayer is the main teaching which will aid someone in living well; constant meditation on the divine will allow someone to achieve the humility and surrender that the book also teaches. This prayer when internalised will transform and influence one's actions to become compassionate, as if one is remembering God in every moment, God will always be the intention and the goal of every act.

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