Premium
The revolt against language: A critical note on twentieth‐century irrationalism with special reference to the aesthetico‐philosophical views of Virginia Woolf and Clive Bell
Author(s) -
Heinemann Jan
Publication year - 1977
Publication title -
orbis litterarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1600-0730
pISSN - 0105-7510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0730.1977.tb00721.x
Subject(s) - skepticism , intuition , philosophy , epistemology , intuitionism , ordinary language philosophy , relation (database) , civilization , pessimism , aesthetics , literature , western philosophy , history , art , archaeology , database , computer science
In this article an attempt is made to shed light on the linguistic aspects of modern irrationalist philosophy as they appear in the writings of Virginia Woolf and Clive Bell. the treatment concentrates on problems relating to aesthetics and philosophy, omitting biographical details. the approach has been to combine historical observations in the manner of A. O. Lovejoy's “history of ideas” with the conceptual tools of contemporary linguistic philosophy. the purpose of the article is to show a) that the basic attitude behind the aesthetico‐philosophical theories of Woolf and Bell coincides with a profoundly sceptical view of Western civilisation prevalent among European intellectuals of the early 20th century, b) that this attitude is closely linked to certain pessimistic concepts of the nature and function of language in relation to aesthetics and philosophy, c) that these concepts have paved the way for, or strengthened belief in the so‐called faculty of intuition, d) that they are logically untenable, and e) that, because of their associations with intuitionist doctrines, they are questionable from an ethical point of view.