Philosophy as Fiction seeks to account for the peculiar power of philosophical literature by taking as its case study the paradigmatic generic hybrid of the twentieth century, Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time. At once philosophical--in that it presents claims, and even deploys arguments

concerning such traditionally philosophical issues as knowledge, self-deception, selfhood, love, friendship, and art--and literary, in that its situations are imaginary and its stylization inescapably prominent, Proust's novel presents us with a conundrum. How should it be read? Can the two

discursive structures co-exist, or must philosophy inevitably undermine literature (by sapping the narrative of its vitality) and literature undermine philosophy (by placing its claims in the mouth of an often unreliable narrator)?

In the case of Proust at least, the result is greater than the sum of its parts. Not only can a coherent, distinctive philosophical system be extracted from the Recherche, once the narrator's periodic waywardness is taken into account; not only does a powerfully original style pervade its every

nook, overtly reinforcing some theories and covertly exemplifying others; but aspects of the philosophy also serve literary ends, contributing more to character than to conceptual framework. What is more, aspects of the aesthetics serve philosophical ends, enabling a reader to engage in an active

manner with an alternative art of living. Unlike the "essay" Proust might have written, his novel grants us the opportunity to use it as a practice ground for cooperation among our faculties, for the careful sifting of memories, for the complex procedures involved in self-fashioning, and for the

related art of self-deception. It is only because the narrator's insights do not always add up--a weakness, so long as one treats the novel as a straightforward treatise--that it can produce its training effect, a feature that turns out to be its ultimate strength.

"A useful, indeed a brilliant, introduction.... Joshua Landy successfully argues that reading Proust is a 'spiritual exercise'.... In the Coda, he supplies a sort of chocolate box of Proustian sentences, and the joy he takes in 'the exasperatingly engaging Proustian style' is contageous."--Tom

D'Evelyn, Providence Journal

"Landy's persuasive thesis is that the Recherche converges unwittingly with the philosophy of Nietzsche, whose prescription, 'In order to act we require the veil of illusion: such is Hamlet's doctrine', Landy cross-refers to Proust with telling results."--Times Literary Supplement

"This extraordinarily intelligent study is the best available introduction to the work of Marcel Proust and provides, at the same time, a persuasive meditation on the links between literature and moral philosophy. Incredibly erudite, yet written in a lively, clear, and witty style, Landy's book

marks the debut of one of the most brilliant younger literary scholars in America today."--Thomas Pavel, University of Chicago

"This book is in many ways excellent. Indeed, much of it could serve as a general introduction to Proust. Landy's scholarship is comprehensive; his conceptions are never less than stimulating; he writes well and with enjoyable irony."--The European Legacy

"At a time of increasing specialization in Proust studies, Joshua Landy has written a large, humane, deeply perceptive, and truly original book about the philosophical import of Proust's great novel. His thesis is simple: the novel's narrator, Marcel, is not Proust, and it is hence entirely

misleading to assume that Marcel's judgments are the author's. On the contrary, Landy argues, the distinction between Marcel and his creator, when properly understood, lays out a coherent philosophical system, neither Platonic, Bergsonian, or Schopenhauerian, but Proust's very own. Landy's analyses

of particular passages and images--Odette's face, Albertine's kimono--will delight Proustians even as they will show new readers why In Search of Lost Time is such a fascinating--and surprising--novel."--Marjorie Perloff, Stanford University

"In his new book on Proust, Joshua Landy has worked out a detailed new view of the complex relationships between Marcel the character in the story, the narrator of the story, and Proust the author of it all. It is an interpretation that is not only original but true, and not only true, but

important, a rare trifecta in literary criticism. It is especially important with respect to the issue of the relationship between the novel and philosophy, the philosophy espoused in it and the philosophy the novel manifests by existing in the form it does. This is an important, wonderful

book."--Robert Pippin, University of Chicago

"It is with great relief that I find myself unable to describe this book as judicious. Refreshingly, it goes out on a limb and takes risks in making the case for a (new) view of Proust as a 'philosophical' novelist. Its main claim--that Proust's novel is philosophically close to Nietzsche's

'perspectivism'--is presented with considerable panache, most notably in the way it explores this alleged parallelism not merely in terms of doctrine, but within the figurative and syntactic structures of Proust's literary prose. It is a book that will not only extend the terms of Proust studies

but, more generally, also enliven the controversial debates about the frontiers between philosophy and literature."--Christopher Prendergast, University of Cambridge

Philosophy as Fiction reconstructs Proust's powerful, coherent and original outlook on knowledge, self-deception and self-fashioning. In addition, it explains why these ideas had to give rise to a work of art and not a philosophical treatise. Parts of the philosophy serve literary ends, with certain assertions forming part of the novel's intricate lace-work; and aspects of the aesthetics also serve philosophical ends, enabling a reader to engage in an active manner with an alternative art of living.

Joshua Landy is Associate Professor of French at Stanford University.