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Full Idea
Wallace Stevens is the greatest philosophical poet of the twentieth century in the English language - full stop - in my humble opinion.
Gist of Idea
Wallace Stevens is the greatest philosophical poet of the twentieth century in English
Source
Simon Critchley (Impossible Objects: interviews [2012], 6)
Book Ref
Critchley,Simon: 'Impossible Objects: interviews' [Politty 2012], p.100
A Reaction
I include this because I tend to agree, and love Stevens. Hear recordings of him reading. I once mentioned Stevens in a conversation with Ted Hughes, and he just shrugged and said Stevens 'wasn't much of a poet'. Wrong.
| 20446 | Philosophy begins in disappointment, notably in religion and politics [Critchley] |
| 20449 | Science gives us an excessively theoretical view of life [Critchley] |
| 20448 | Phenomenology uncovers and redescribes the pre-theoretical layer of life [Critchley] |
| 20447 | The problems is not justifying ethics, but motivating it. Why should a self seek its good? [Critchley] |
| 20452 | Anarchism used to be libertarian (especially for sexuality), but now concerns responsibility [Critchley] |
| 20450 | The state, law, bureaucracy and capital are limitations on life, so I prefer federalist anarchism [Critchley] |
| 20451 | Belief that humans are wicked leads to authoritarian politics [Critchley] |
| 20454 | Wallace Stevens is the greatest philosophical poet of the twentieth century in English [Critchley] |
| 20455 | Philosophy really got started as the rival mode of discourse to tragedy [Critchley] |
| 20456 | Interesting art is always organised around ethical demands [Critchley] |