These essays bring together ideas and modes of expression from Vico, Hegel, Cassirer, and James Joyce. This work approaches philosophy as a form of literature and approaches literature as containing insights and images that supply a basis for philosophical thought. Philosophy and literature are both products of the rational imagination. The rational imagination provides a guide to the conception of the good society. By looking back at Plato’s Laws, it is possible to conceive society as based on friendship rather than ideology. Considering the interrelationships among philosophy, society, and literature offers a basis to pursue the ancient quest for self-knowledge inherited from the Delphic inscription, the precept to “know thyself.” These essays suggest a way to enter into the history of thought as a means for the individual to engage in contemplation and to employ contemplation as the essential activity for the pursuit of the good life.

Donald Phillip Verene is Charles Howard Candler Professor Emeritus of Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy at Emory University and Fellow of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. He is the author of numerous works in the history of philosophy, philosophy of culture, philosophy of literature, and philosophy and rhetoric. He has held visiting appointments at Oxford University, University of Toronto, University of Rome “La Sapienza,” and the Folger Shakespeare Library.