Description
An engaging look at the aphorism, the shortest literary form, across time, languages, and cultures
Aphorisms-or short philosophical sayings-appear everywhere, from Confucius to Twitter, the Buddha to the Bible, Heraclitus to Nietzsche. Yet despite this ubiquity, the aphorism is the least studied literary form. What are its origins? How did it develop? Were the enigmatic sayings of charismatic sages the original "social media"? And why do some of our most celebrated modern philosophers use aphoristic fragments to convey their deepest ideas? In A Theory of the Aphorism, Andrew Hui crisscrosses histories and cultures to answer these questions and more. Encompassing literature, philology, and philosophy, A Theory of the Aphorism invites us to reflect anew on the meaning of this pithiest of literary forms.
About the Author
Andrew Hui is associate professor of humanities at Yale-NUS College, Singapore. He is the author of The Poetics of Ruins in Renaissance Literature.
Reviews
"One of FiveBooks' Best Philosophy Books of 2019"
Book Information
ISBN 9780691210759
Author Andrew Hui
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Princeton University Press
Publisher Princeton University Press
