The ethics of indeterminacy in the novels of William Gaddis /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Comnes, Gregory.
Imprint:Gainesville : University Press of Florida, ©1994.
Description:1 online resource (x, 188 pages) : illustrations
Language:English
Subject:
Format: E-Resource Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11106298
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:0813019281
9780813019284
0813012511
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 163-176) and index.
English.
Print version record.
Summary:William Gaddis is one of the most significant postwar American novelists. His three large and experimental works - The Recognitions, J R (which won the National Book Award in 1975), and Carpenter's Gothic - sell to a reverential underground. In this first discussion of the ethical dimension of Gaddis's novels, Gregory Comnes maintains that Gaddis writes "epistemological" novels, narratives whose form provides readers with the means to understand how a postmodern ethics is possible.
To establish this position Comnes argues three points. The first is that ethical concepts derive from fundamental epistemological principles - that "oughts" are legitimated by what passes for what "is." The second is that Gaddis's novels employ the epistemological concepts, grounded in quantum science, as principles of composition and form. From this interpretation, the novels dramatize the truth described by contemporary science. Readers of Gaddis come to realize what Bohr and Heisenberg understood, Comnes argues: that life is not linear, aimed at one fixed point and seeking consummation there. He concludes that Gaddis wants readers to understand the issue of ethics in a way that one of his characters describes as "Agape agape." Within the constraints of an indeterminate world, love itself can serve as the basis of meaning and value. The three novels, each postmodern and ethical, correlate the worlds of science, religion, art, and economics to show that ethical choice (not conformity and passivity) is possible, even when the absolute is replaced with the probable as the basis for judgment.
Other form:Print version: Comnes, Gregory. Ethics of indeterminacy in the novels of William Gaddis. Gainesville : University Press of Florida, ©1994 0813012511

MARC

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245 1 4 |a The ethics of indeterminacy in the novels of William Gaddis /  |c Gregory Comnes. 
260 |a Gainesville :  |b University Press of Florida,  |c ©1994. 
300 |a 1 online resource (x, 188 pages) :  |b illustrations 
336 |a text  |b txt  |2 rdacontent 
337 |a computer  |b c  |2 rdamedia 
338 |a online resource  |b cr  |2 rdacarrier 
504 |a Includes bibliographical references (pages 163-176) and index. 
520 |a William Gaddis is one of the most significant postwar American novelists. His three large and experimental works - The Recognitions, J R (which won the National Book Award in 1975), and Carpenter's Gothic - sell to a reverential underground. In this first discussion of the ethical dimension of Gaddis's novels, Gregory Comnes maintains that Gaddis writes "epistemological" novels, narratives whose form provides readers with the means to understand how a postmodern ethics is possible. 
520 8 |a To establish this position Comnes argues three points. The first is that ethical concepts derive from fundamental epistemological principles - that "oughts" are legitimated by what passes for what "is." The second is that Gaddis's novels employ the epistemological concepts, grounded in quantum science, as principles of composition and form. From this interpretation, the novels dramatize the truth described by contemporary science. Readers of Gaddis come to realize what Bohr and Heisenberg understood, Comnes argues: that life is not linear, aimed at one fixed point and seeking consummation there. He concludes that Gaddis wants readers to understand the issue of ethics in a way that one of his characters describes as "Agape agape." Within the constraints of an indeterminate world, love itself can serve as the basis of meaning and value. The three novels, each postmodern and ethical, correlate the worlds of science, religion, art, and economics to show that ethical choice (not conformity and passivity) is possible, even when the absolute is replaced with the probable as the basis for judgment. 
588 0 |a Print version record. 
505 0 |a Ethics, epistemology, and the narrative of indeterminacy -- The recognitions -- T R -- Carpenter's gothic. 
546 |a English. 
600 1 0 |a Gaddis, William,  |d 1922-1998  |x Criticism and interpretation. 
600 1 7 |a Gaddis, William,  |d 1922-1998  |2 fast  |0 (OCoLC)fst00071376 
650 0 |a Ethics in literature.  |0 http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh94004075 
650 7 |a LITERARY CRITICISM  |x American  |x General.  |2 bisacsh 
650 7 |a Ethics in literature.  |2 fast  |0 (OCoLC)fst00915860 
650 7 |a American Literature.  |2 hilcc 
650 7 |a English.  |2 hilcc 
650 7 |a Languages & Literatures.  |2 hilcc 
655 7 |a Criticism, interpretation, etc.  |2 fast  |0 (OCoLC)fst01411635 
655 0 |a Electronic books. 
655 4 |a Electronic books. 
776 0 8 |i Print version:  |a Comnes, Gregory.  |t Ethics of indeterminacy in the novels of William Gaddis.  |d Gainesville : University Press of Florida, ©1994  |z 0813012511  |w (DLC) 93030650  |w (OCoLC)28633839 
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