Spinoza, aesthetics, and Percy Shelley’s ‘A Defence of Poetry’

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper focuses on the relation between Spinoza’s philosophy and the aesthetic theories and pronouncements developed by Percy Shelley in his well-known essay ‘A Defence of Poetry’. It begins by briefly considering questions of influence, before developing a critique of James. C. Morrison’s argument that Spinoza’s philosophy does not engage with aesthetic questions. It argues, against Morrison, that clear lines of argument can be found in Spinoza that open understandings of how artistic practice might have real effects in the world. It then develops a reading of ‘A Defence of Poetry’ in light of Shelley’s interest in Spinoza’s philosophy.