Literature and Common Life

Abstract

There seems to be a classical intuitive interest in the question, ‘What is the relation between philosophy and literature?’ I will refrain from either defining literature and philosophy or attempt to locate their respective areas of operation via inevitably biased selection of texts. Instead, assuming large areas of convergence, I will ask: is there a penchant for some goal which is not directly open to other forms of reflective endeavour, especially science, but without which the understanding of the human condition remains significantly incomplete? Supposing there to be an answer to this question, does the answer relate to or explain some empirical fact common (perhaps only) to literature and philosophy? As the title suggests, I will argue that an understanding at once of common life with all its richness and complexity forces a rather specific notion of textuality which governs both literature and philosophy; it does not govern any other reflective form as far as I can see. The basic idea is that the textuality of literature and philosophy is the creative product of the daily reflective practices of the writer and the philosopher, such that these texts supplement the daily practices of common life. It enables common life to step out of locality and attain transcendence.