My thoughts on...Susan James: Emotional Responses to Fiction: A Spinozist Approach

Here’s a video I’ve shared of the Royal Institute of Philosophy talk I went to last Friday 2^nd February in London, given by Professor Susan James (who I refer to in my ebook in the preface as a source of inspiration and a role model for me) on emotion and fiction, drawing on Spinoza’s philosophy.

Why have I shared it on my blog? 

Well, apart from it being the best talk I’ve heard in a long while, it’s also a deliciously rich combination of the history of philosophy (namely Spinoza) and contemporary issues in philosophy, as well as intersecting aesthetics, feminism, social philosophy, psychology, and philosophy of emotion. So right up my street! This mixture in itself makes the paper very original, because, as far as I’m aware, no-one has put forward this combination before and she is arguing in a way which puts a new twist on a classic philosophical dilemma. In addition, these topics and areas of philosophy are interwoven seamlessly, which is a difficult thing to accomplish especially in the time given. I think this paper also creatively builds on her previous work, which, at first blush, is not entirely obvious if you have not read her work in its entirety or listened to her talks, so cannot place this paper within the overall context of her philosophical system of thought. We can hear her authorial voice coming through this paper, as throughout her works, which adds to the sense of continuity. At the same time, we are being challenged to follow her complex train of thought as she takes us through an exploration of core features of human life and experience. Although the focus of the paper is narrow in scope and specifically addresses paradoxes arising from fictional and real existence, it carries fascinating wider application for a huge variety of philosophical topics and debates.  

To date, this area has not been my primary research focus, however, it’s something I may well want to draw inspiration from and build on so is relevant to my Spinoza research diary. It’s a highly complex and logically structured paper so I shall not go into it in this post but shall be referring to it as and when. 

So, sit back, relax and enjoy!