In Quest of the Ordinary

Library Journal

Univ. of Chicago Pr. Jan. 1989. c.184p. bibliog. index. LC 88-22651. ISBN 0-226-09817-6. $19.95. phil ~ In these seven lectures, Harvard professor Cavell continues the development of his thoughts on the ``everyday,'' first addressed by Wittgenstein, Austin, Thoreau, and Emerson, and on the romanticism of Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Shakespeare. As always, Cavell's own thoughts are careful revelations of a creative understanding of the nexus between philosophy and literature. The original audience to these lectures, academics and scholars in transcendental philosophy or romantic literature, will undoubtedly be the happiest readers of the text presented here. Recommended for most academic libraries and to other libraries with strong collections in the humanities. Francisca Goldsmith, Golden Gate Univ. Lib., San Francisco

Booknews

Lectures by Cavell (aesthetics, Harvard) at Berkeley (1983) and Stanford (1984, 1986) and Vienna (1986) provide an argument for the philosophical basis of Romanticism, particularly in its American rendering. He examines Emerson, Thoreau, Poe, Wordsworth, and Coleridge, to show that Romanticism and American Transcendentalism represent a serious philosophical response to the challenge of skepticism that underlies the writings of Wittgenstein and J.L. Austin on ordinary language. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)