Nabokov, Sartre and the Triumph of Stupidity

Tijdschrift Voor Filosofie 76 (1):31-57 (2014)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Stupidity is often described as a lack. People who do not have the capacity to learn, as well as those who do not have the knowledge they are expected to have, are considered to be ”stupid’. But stupidity can also be thought of as a surplus, an excess. Nabokov and Sartre both understand stupidity in this way: as a surplus of matter. First, this article is an introduction to Nabokov’s views on stupidity. Nabokov defines the stupid, ”the philistine’, as “a full-grown person whose interests are of a material and commonplace nature, and whose mentality is formed of the stock ideas and conventional ideals of his or her group or time‘: Literature and art are places where philistinism thrives. Second, the article shows striking similarities between Nabokov’s descriptions of philistinism and Sartre’s characterization of stupidity in The Family Idiot. Third, the article highlights the main difference between Nabokov’s and Sartre’s views on stupidity. While Sartre understands stupidity to be an inherent quality of every individual and therefore, to a certain degree, considers himself to be stupid, Nabokov believes that true genius is able to escape stupidity.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

The vitality of stupidity.René ten Bos - 2007 - Social Epistemology 21 (2):139 – 150.
The Biology of Stupidity: Genetics, Eugenics and Mental Deficiency in the Inter-War Years.David Barker - 1989 - British Journal for the History of Science 22 (3):347-375.
Strange Bedfellows: Ayn Rand And Vladimir Nabokov.D. Johnson - 2000 - Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 1 (3):47-67.
Strange Bedfellows: Ayn Rand and Vladimir Nabokov.D. Barton Johnson - 2000 - Journal of Ayn Rand Studies 2 (1):47 - 67.

Analytics

Added to PP
2017-10-19

Downloads
14 (#846,545)

6 months
6 (#202,901)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references