Epistemological Relativism

It seems that many works of classic literature were meant for much more than aesthetic appeal. These works, no doubt, contain impressive aesthetic qualities such as vivid imagery, well structured prose and/or poetry and a compelling story. If it weren’t for these and many other elements I doubt these works would have and had such wide-ranging and lasting appeal. What is interesting to consider is that these works were predominantly used as vehicles to deliver moral, political and religious messages.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying a work of literature for this aesthetic appeal and one could spend a significant amount of time exploring and admiring this dimension of the text. We must remember, however, that the people who read or heard these works perhaps understood them in a way that exceeded this aesthetic dimension. We know that, for example, Plato loathed the poets for their irresponsible use power. There would be no reasonable explanation for Plato’s low view of this group if the works they produced were merely entertainment. The tales that the poets created and communicated carried with them very specific messages intended to subvert the minds of the audiences. This subversion was, of course, meant to draw the hearer into alignment with the poets view of the world.

Why does this matter? Or, perhaps more importantly, why do I bother with such distinctions? Because inasmuch as these are works of literature with aesthetic appeal they are also a reflection of the thoughts and ideas of ages gone by. We get a glimpse of some of these ideas as they circulated during their periods of authorship. Historical-critical analysis would sometimes use these works to see what types of stories people told in order to work backwards to determine beliefs, ideas and challenges. What we view as merely aesthetic appreciation or entertainment is much, much more. To embark on a mission of classical reading without a grasp of the wider world in which these works were authored is to miss the much larger dimension of the story the authors were trying to tell.

Can we get by with an entertainment only reading of these works? Of course we can and we will still grow in our understanding and appreciation of the authors and their cultures. But when we approach reading with the other dimensions in mind we experience a richer  aspect of the world in which the author and original readers lived. It interesting to note that we, for the most part, do this with modern works. These messages are not lost to us because we are much closer culturally and, at a minimum, temporally to the ideas. We can recognize with a fair degree of accuracy some of these moral, political and religious messages.

Books, Thoughts