Timothy Cleveland is professor of philosophy at New Mexico State University.

In a wide-ranging discussion that focuses on the relationship between philosophy and literature, Cleveland argues that some works of fiction can point readers toward what is unsayable. Against Plato, the author claims there is a sense in which literature can be philosophical by providing an enhanced awareness of the world, but trying to put this into words risks losing it. Among other reflections, Cleveland offers an extended account of T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” to show how the poem works as a kind of performance that provides a strong sense of the self’s fragmentation in the modern world. It may seem paradoxical to say that one can talk about the unsayable, but poetry, novels, negative theology, and Zen Buddhist koans can get beneath the surface level of meaning to transform one from within. Cleveland describes his work as “a philosophical prolegomena to fiction and the unsayable” (p. 4). He does not get bogged down in theory but offers insights and a thoughtful discussion concerning philosophical aspects of literature “that cannot be articulated, only shown” (p. 22). Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

• PrefaceIntroduction: Encountering the IneffableChapter 1: The Platonic ParadigmChapter 2: The Experience of the UnsayableChapter 3: The In Principle Ineffable and the Trivially IneffableChapter 4: Showing What Can Be SaidChapter 5: Showing What Cannot Be SaidConclusion: How Plato Could Have Settled the Ancient QuarrelBibliographyAbout the Author

Timothy Cleveland is professor of philosophy at New Mexico State University.

In a wide-ranging discussion that focuses on the relationship between philosophy and literature, Cleveland argues that some works of fiction can point readers toward what is unsayable. Against Plato, the author claims there is a sense in which literature can be philosophical by providing an enhanced awareness of the world, but trying to put this into words risks losing it. Among other reflections, Cleveland offers an extended account of T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” to show how the poem works as a kind of performance that provides a strong sense of the self’s fragmentation in the modern world. It may seem paradoxical to say that one can talk about the unsayable, but poetry, novels, negative theology, and Zen Buddhist koans can get beneath the surface level of meaning to transform one from within. Cleveland describes his work as “a philosophical prolegomena to fiction and the unsayable” (p. 4). He does not get bogged down in theory but offers insights and a thoughtful discussion concerning philosophical aspects of literature “that cannot be articulated, only shown” (p. 22). Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

• PrefaceIntroduction: Encountering the IneffableChapter 1: The Platonic ParadigmChapter 2: The Experience of the UnsayableChapter 3: The In Principle Ineffable and the Trivially IneffableChapter 4: Showing What Can Be SaidChapter 5: Showing What Cannot Be SaidConclusion: How Plato Could Have Settled the Ancient QuarrelBibliographyAbout the Author

Timothy Cleveland is professor of philosophy at New Mexico State University.

In a wide-ranging discussion that focuses on the relationship between philosophy and literature, Cleveland argues that some works of fiction can point readers toward what is unsayable. Against Plato, the author claims there is a sense in which literature can be philosophical by providing an enhanced awareness of the world, but trying to put this into words risks losing it. Among other reflections, Cleveland offers an extended account of T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land” to show how the poem works as a kind of performance that provides a strong sense of the self’s fragmentation in the modern world. It may seem paradoxical to say that one can talk about the unsayable, but poetry, novels, negative theology, and Zen Buddhist koans can get beneath the surface level of meaning to transform one from within. Cleveland describes his work as “a philosophical prolegomena to fiction and the unsayable” (p. 4). He does not get bogged down in theory but offers insights and a thoughtful discussion concerning philosophical aspects of literature “that cannot be articulated, only shown” (p. 22). Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.

• PrefaceIntroduction: Encountering the IneffableChapter 1: The Platonic ParadigmChapter 2: The Experience of the UnsayableChapter 3: The In Principle Ineffable and the Trivially IneffableChapter 4: Showing What Can Be SaidChapter 5: Showing What Cannot Be SaidConclusion: How Plato Could Have Settled the Ancient QuarrelBibliographyAbout the Author