Keats’s Concept of Negative Capability Keats’s Concept of Negative Capability John Keats’s idea of negative capability is one of the most important and influential concepts in Romantic literary theory. Although Keats mentioned the term only once, in a letter written in December 1817 to his brothers ...
Henry James’ “The Art of Fiction” Henry James’ “The Art of Fiction” Henry James’s essay “The Art of Fiction” (1884) is one of the most important critical essays on the novel ever written. In this essay, James defends the novel as a serious art form and explains what he believes makes fiction great. ...
Longinus’s On the Sublime Longinus’s On the Sublime On the Sublime is one of the most important works of ancient literary criticism. It is traditionally attributed to Longinus, though the exact identity of the author is uncertain. Written probably in the first century CE, the treatise is not just a ...
Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas Jürgen Habermas is one of the most important living philosophers and social thinkers. His main concern is how modern societies can be democratic, fair, and reasonable in a world shaped by power, money, bureaucracy, and mass media. Unlike thinkers who focus on force or...
Martin Heidegger’s Philosophy Explained Simply Martin Heidegger’s Philosophy in Simple Terms Martin Heidegger is one of the most influential—and difficult—philosophers of the twentieth century. His main goal was not to explain ethics, politics, or science in the usual way. Instead, he asked a more b...