Title
Empirical Truths and Critical Fictions: Locke, Wordsworth, Kant, Freud
Delivery time: 8-12 business days (International)
In the prevailing account of English empiricism, Locke conceived of selfunderstanding as a matter of mere observation, bound closely to the laws of physical perception. English Romantic poets and German critical philosophers challenged Locke s conception, arguing that it failed to account adequately for the power of thought to turn upon itselfto detach itself from the laws of the physical world. Cathy Caruth reinterprets questions at the heart of empiricism by treating Locke s text not simply as philosophical doctrine but also as a narrative in which experience plays an unexpected and uncanny role. Rediscovering traces and transformations of this narrative in Wordsworth, Kant, and Freud, Caruth argues that these authors must not be read only as rejecting or overcoming empirical doctrine but also as reencountering in their own narratives the complex and difficult relation between language and experience.Beginning her inquiry with the moment of empirical selfreflection in Locke s Essay Concerning Human Understandingwhen a mad mother mourns her dead childCaruth asks what it means that empiricism represents itself as an act of mourning and explores why scenes of mourning reappear in later texts such as Wordsworth s Prelude, Kant s Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science and Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics, and Freud s Civilization. From these readings Caruth traces a recurring narrative of radical loss and the continual displacement of the object or the agent of loss. In Locke it is the mother who mourns her dead child, while in Wordsworth it is the child who mourns the dead mother. In Kant the father murders the son, while in Freud the sons murder the father.As she traces this pattern, Caruth shows that the conceptual claims of each text to move beyond empiricism are implicit claims to move beyond reference. Yet the narrative of death in each text, she argues, leaves a referential residue that cannot be reclaimed by empirical or conceptual logic. Caruth thus reveals, in each of these authors, a tension between the abstraction of a conceptual language freed from reference and the compelling referential resistance of particular stories to abstraction.
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Shipping & Returns
Shipping
We ship your order within 2–3 business days for USA deliveries and 5–8 business days for international shipments. Once your package has been dispatched from our warehouse, you'll receive an email confirmation with a tracking number, allowing you to track the status of your delivery.
Returns
To facilitate a smooth return process, a Return Authorization (RA) Number is required for all returns. Returns without a valid RA number will be declined and may incur additional fees. You can request an RA number within 15 days of the original delivery date. For more details, please refer to our Return & Refund Policy page.
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Warranty
We provide a 2-year limited warranty, from the date of purchase for all our products.
If you believe you have received a defective product, or are experiencing any problems with your product, please contact us.
This warranty strictly does not cover damages that arose from negligence, misuse, wear and tear, or not in accordance with product instructions (dropping the product, etc.).
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Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.
We accept payments with :
Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Paypal, Shopify Payments, Shop Pay and more.