Programme

Philosophy, Literature, and Pathology in David Foster Wallace

The Philosophy of Literature course aims to explore the transdisciplinary intersection between philosophy and literature from a theoretical perspective, highlighting concepts and themes that testify how philosophical thought relates to literature in different ways, not so much as an object of analysis, rather in terms of their interaction and proximity.
The course will examine the link between philosophical enquiry and its pathological declination in the fiction and non-fiction of the American writer David Foster Wallace, highlighting some conceptual knots - solipsism, addiction, boredom, self-deception - that reveal the fascinating yet problematic interweaving between philosophizing and writing.
The programme will focus on the following topics:
- Introduction to the relationship between philosophy and literature.
- Introduction to the life and work of D.F. Wallace
- Critical analysis of the concepts of solipsism, alienation, boredom in their problematic intertwining of philosophy, literature and pathology
- Exposition of the relationship between addiction, self-deception, and logical paradoxes

Core Documentation

For Erasmus students:
D.F. Wallace, The Empty Plenum: David Markson's Wittgenstein's Mistress, in Both Flesh and Not, Little, Brown and Co 2012.
D.F. Wallace, Good Old Neon, in Oblivion, Little Brown & Co 2004.
D.F. Wallace, The Planet Trillaphon as It Stands in Relation to the Bad Thing, in The Amherst Review, vol. XII (1984).
D.F. Wallace, The depressed person, in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Back Bay Books 2000.
D.F. Wallace, Suicide as a sort of present, in Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, Back Bay Books 2000.
G. Baggio, Filosofia e patologia in D.F. Wallace. Solipsismo, noia, alienazione… e altre cose (poco) divertenti, Rosenberg & Sellier 2022.
D. Laing, The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness, Penguin 2005 (first part).
C. Scarlato, Attraverso il corpo. Filosofia e letteratura in David Foster Wallace, Mimesis 2020 (primo capitolo)
M. Piazza, La scrittura dei filosofi e la filosofia degli scrittori, in «Bollettino Filosofico», n. 210, 2013.

Attendance

Attendance is not mandatory but particularly recommended. Non-attending students must contact the professor to arrange supplementary written work of 5 pages on one of the course texts. Additional study of a text to be chosen from those indicated in the "Reference Bibliography" section of this programme is also required.

Type of evaluation

The evaluation takes place through a final oral examination on the topics and texts considered during the course and an evaluation of the active participation in class and in group works. The study by students attending the course of one of the "Recommended Texts" will be properly taken into account for the evaluation of the exam. Not attending students are required to study an additional text to be chosen from those indicated, for each module, in the "Recommended Texts" section of this program. ERASMUS students can do the examination in either English or French