- The Doppelgänger: Literature's Philosophy

The Doppelg��nger or Double presents literature as the "double" of philosophy. There are historical reasons for this. The genesis of the Doppelg��nger is literature's response to the philosophical focus on subjectivity. The Doppelg��nger was coined by the German author Jean Paul in 1796 as a critique of Idealism's assertion of subjective autonomy, individuality and human agency. This critique prefigures post-War extrapolations of the subject as decentred. From this perspective, the Doppelg��nger has a "family resemblance" to current conceptualizations of subjectivity. It becomes the emblematic subject of modernity. This is the first significant study on the Doppelg��nger's influence on philosophical thought. The Doppelg��nger emerges as a hidden and unexplored element both in conceptions of subjectivity and in philosophy's relation to literature. Vardoulakis demonstrates this by employing the Doppelg��nger to read literature philosophically and to read philosophy as literature. The Doppelg��nger then appears instrumental in the self-conception of both literature and philosophy.… (more)