Authors and Readers as Philosophers
Authors and Readers as Philosophers
“I’m not a philosopher.” Really?
A discussion about an author’s philosophy and whether it affects his/her writing came up the other day. One author declared, “I’m not a philosopher.” I understand. Many people think of philosophers as those people who occupy ivory towers on college campuses. Time to rethink that.
Look in the mirror. Believe it or not, you are a philosopher. In fact, we are all philosophers – both those of us who write and those who read. We just don’t approach it in any formal way – no stacks of books espousing the ideas of Aristotle, Plato, Hume, Kant, and a host of others through the millennia. We just live it. That is, each of us has his/her own ideas about life, its basic goodness or badness, ideas about how the world does and should work, and much more. And authors not only live it, they can’t help but carry these ideas into their writing.
Philosophy encompasses these three things:
Metaphysics – what is real, knowable; what is an illusion, part of man’s imagination?
Epistemology – how do you know what is real, what an illusion?
Ethics – the technology for using the above, applying to every aspect of man’s life, morality, a code of values to guide man’s choices and actions that determine the course of his life.
You as an author contemplate all of the above in your writing, whether you realize it or not. Take as an example the author Margaret Atwood who wrote The Handmaid’s Tale, a novel that ratchets up the war between the sexes through her image of a dystopian future. Imagine how Atwood would answer the questions in 1 and 2 above and the results therefore in 3. She is definitely not someone I want to have a cup of tea with, nor could I bear to read such novels.
A Note for You Readers
When you read a novel or short story or any work of fiction or even non-fiction, please keep in mind that part of the author is there. Also please realize that your own philosophy is coloring what you read, inserting your emotional and epistemological reactions.
It is certainly true for me. I recently got into a set-to online with an author writing some silly book about time travel – silly in my mind, to be sure. Since time is merely a system for measuring change and not a dimension, traveling backward or forward is strictly fiction of the most outlandish kind. When I read any work of fiction, I can only suspend disbelief so far, and not far enough anymore to absorb time travel.
Writing about time travel also has gotten old due to the limited options:
The MC goes back in time, changes something, comes back to a future changed for the better or worse.
The MC goes into the future and sees things that he/she brings back to the present and thus changes that non-existent future.
The MC goes into the past, tries to change something major and fails but changes something small that affects the future.
The MC goes back in time to save his own mother and fails but somehow still exists – wait, that’s – gee – hmm.
You, however, may devour fiction about time travel like I eat Cheerios – by the handful. More power to you. Just realize that it’s your philosophy guiding that choice.
An Example of Applying Philosophy to My Writing
My philosophy certainly comes out in the Freelan novel series, especially ideas about the basic goodness that exists in all of us as well as our strength, our ability to overcome adversity. A belief that we all seek individuality and freedom is also deep within my psyche. And it comes through clearly in the plots, scenes, and actions of my characters. Even the villains have a spark of goodness in them somewhere. It can take me awhile to dig it out, but sooner or later …
The character Peter Thorn is a good example. Hubby suggested that I have the California government send a spy to Hammil Valley where people were thriving despite the government’s efforts to rein them in. Fabulous idea since it would add in some much needed controversy, but something inside me couldn’t let him stay a villain. And I knew that being around people who cherished freedom would influence him. It did. And his character grew from being someone who popped in two-thirds of the way into the first book I wrote in the series (now it’s the first part of a 600k+ tome called Freelan: the Dawning) to being a main character in the subsequent novels and a very heroic figure. That all came from my personal philosophy.
Final Note
You authors who don’t think you are philosophers take heart. The very act of writing shows differently.
You readers, try to see the fiction you are reading from the author’s philosophy as opposed to yours, no matter how tough that can seem.
Hope you found this helpful and have been inspired to start and/or continue writing!
See my article: Publisher Agent Fiction Genres Defined, with downloadable PDF.
Please check out my works in progress (WIPs). And thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: I get no compensation for links to other sites and/or products in this post or on my site.