Artful Truths: The Philosophy of Memoir

University of Chicago Press (2021)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Offers a philosophical perspective on the nature and value of writing a memoir. Artful Truths offers a concise guide to the fundamental philosophical questions that arise when writing a literary work about your own life. Bringing a philosopher’s perspective to a general audience, Helena de Bres addresses what a memoir is, how the genre relates to fiction, memoirists’ responsibilities to their readers and subjects, and the question of why to write a memoir at all. Along the way, she delves into a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of the self, the limits of knowledge, the idea of truth, the obligations of friendship, the relationship between morality and art, and the question of what makes a life meaningful. Written in a clear and conversational style, it offers a resource for those who write, teach, and study memoirs, as well as those who love to read them. With a combination of literary and philosophical knowledge, de Bres takes the many challenges directed at memoirists seriously, while ultimately standing in defense of a genre that, for all its perplexities—and maybe partly because of them—continually proves to be both beloved and valuable.

Other Versions

No versions found

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 101,795

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Artful Truths: The Philosophy of Memoir. [REVIEW]Donald Gillies - 2022 - The Philosophers' Magazine 97:110-111.
Artful Truths: The Philosophy of Memoir.Hannah H. Kim - 2023 - British Journal of Aesthetics 64 (1):136-139.
Ecology of being.Peter White - 2006 - Gambier, Ohio: All In All Books.
The Time of Philosophy.Kélina Gotman - 2019 - Comparative and Continental Philosophy 11 (2):161-177.
Diving for pearls: exploring philosophy with my father.Thomas P. Brockelman - 2021 - Fabius, New York: Standing Stone Books, an imprint of Standing Stone Studios.
How to be multiple: the philosophy of twins.Helena de Bres - 2023 - New York: Bloomsbury Publishing. Edited by Julia De Bres.
The Epistemological Value of Depression Memoirs.Somogy Varga & Jennifer Radden - 2013 - In K. W. M. Fulford, Martin Davies, Richard Gipps, George Graham, John Sadler, Giovanni Stanghellini & Tim Thornton (eds.), The Oxford handbook of philosophy and psychiatry. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ironic midwives: Socratic maieutics in Nietzsche and Kierkegaard.Joseph Westfall - 2009 - Philosophy and Social Criticism 35 (6):627-648.

Analytics

Added to PP
2023-06-09

Downloads
15 (#1,244,127)

6 months
5 (#1,071,419)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Helena De Bres
Wellesley College

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references