Diluvian Philosophy: Utilitarian Motifs in Moby-Dick
Abstract
Using utilitarianism as an example, the still obscure hidden balances between realist and idealist tendencies within a single either explicitly realist or explicitly idealist system of thought will be investigated. This essay considers the whaleship Pequod in Melville’s Moby-Dick as a utilitarian universe and examines its narrator’s notion of the utility of the skeletons of stranded whales. As the essay argues, this notion, alongside Ishmael’s brief reference to Jeremy Bentham’s skeleton, suggests that Melville may have had some familiarity with the highly unorthodox and radical ideas developed by the utilitarian sage in his last work Auto-Icon; or Farther Uses of the Dead to the Living, in which he set out the reasons for having his own skeleton preserved after his death and outlined its numerous possible uses. Both cases reveal that the utilitarian universe has a tendency to become self-referential, or even put itself on display; it not only engenders a world of utter and multifarious utility, but at the same time produces the light by which it showcases the ideality of this very doing.
Abstract
Using utilitarianism as an example, the still obscure hidden balances between realist and idealist tendencies within a single either explicitly realist or explicitly idealist system of thought will be investigated. This essay considers the whaleship Pequod in Melville’s Moby-Dick as a utilitarian universe and examines its narrator’s notion of the utility of the skeletons of stranded whales. As the essay argues, this notion, alongside Ishmael’s brief reference to Jeremy Bentham’s skeleton, suggests that Melville may have had some familiarity with the highly unorthodox and radical ideas developed by the utilitarian sage in his last work Auto-Icon; or Farther Uses of the Dead to the Living, in which he set out the reasons for having his own skeleton preserved after his death and outlined its numerous possible uses. Both cases reveal that the utilitarian universe has a tendency to become self-referential, or even put itself on display; it not only engenders a world of utter and multifarious utility, but at the same time produces the light by which it showcases the ideality of this very doing.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- Abbreviations VII
- Introduction: Impulses for a New Idealism IX
-
Part I: The Neglected Impulses of Idealism in the History of Philosophy
- How Ideal Is the Ancient Self? 1
- De-Symbolization of the World and the Emergence of the Self: A Historically-Idealist Theory of the Subject 27
- Genesis, Structure, and Ideas: Genetic Epistemology in Early Modern Philosophy 69
- Diluvian Philosophy: Utilitarian Motifs in Moby-Dick 93
- Thinking Free Release in Hegel’s System 111
- Idealism and the Problem of Finitude: Heidegger and Hegel 127
- Hegel’s Metaphysical Alternative to the Choice between an Unrealistic Platonic Realism and an Opposing Skeptical Anti-realism 151
-
Part II: Contemporary Impulses for a New Idealism
- A Materialist Defense of an Idealist Subjectivity 171
- Philosophy and Its History 193
- Beyond Realism and Correlationism, the Idealist Path 209
- A Typology of Idealism 231
- Fiction: The Truth of Idealism and Realism 251
- Virus and Idea 269
- Index 283
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Table of Contents V
- Abbreviations VII
- Introduction: Impulses for a New Idealism IX
-
Part I: The Neglected Impulses of Idealism in the History of Philosophy
- How Ideal Is the Ancient Self? 1
- De-Symbolization of the World and the Emergence of the Self: A Historically-Idealist Theory of the Subject 27
- Genesis, Structure, and Ideas: Genetic Epistemology in Early Modern Philosophy 69
- Diluvian Philosophy: Utilitarian Motifs in Moby-Dick 93
- Thinking Free Release in Hegel’s System 111
- Idealism and the Problem of Finitude: Heidegger and Hegel 127
- Hegel’s Metaphysical Alternative to the Choice between an Unrealistic Platonic Realism and an Opposing Skeptical Anti-realism 151
-
Part II: Contemporary Impulses for a New Idealism
- A Materialist Defense of an Idealist Subjectivity 171
- Philosophy and Its History 193
- Beyond Realism and Correlationism, the Idealist Path 209
- A Typology of Idealism 231
- Fiction: The Truth of Idealism and Realism 251
- Virus and Idea 269
- Index 283
