Yearly Archives: 2016

By: Frank Stringfellow  Abstract: Identifying Gilbert Osmond as the embodiment of evil is a commonplace observation in the voluminous commentary on Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady. However, critics of the novel have been remiss in providing a comprehensive examination of Osmond’s nefarious actions and the depraved personality behind them. This essay deciphers evidenceContinue reading “Henry James’s Portrait of Evil: A Study in Narcissistic Rage”

By: Laurie Johnson Abstract: This article explores Immanuel Kant’s contributions to psychology (specifically, the “Dreams of a Spirit-Seer” of 1766 and the “Classification of Mental Disorders” of 1764) in order to illuminate some connections between critical philosophy and psychology. Early in his career, and, surprisingly, in texts about hallucinations and mental illness, Kant’s expositions onContinue reading “Toward a Psychological History of Philosophy: Kant’s Dreams of a Spirit-Seer (Träume eines Geistersehers, erläutert durch Träume der Metaphysik, 1766)”

By: Andrew Gordon Abstract: The Book of Daniel is a fictionalized version of the case of the Rosenbergs, JewishAmerican Communists electrocuted by the American government as atomic spies in 1953. It is told by Daniel Isaacson, child of executed spies, in the form of his doctoral dissertation, but the structure of the narrative reflects Daniel’sContinue reading “Mourning and Melancholia in E.L. Doctorow’s The Book of Daniel”

By: Matt Bennett Abstract: Sookie Stackhouse, the protagonist of HBO’s True Blood, is a telepath who has grown up knowing what people “really” think. From the first episode, however, moments suggest we view her character symptomatically—after all, she hears voices in her head. The series then becomes an illustration of Lacanian concepts of subjectivity andContinue reading “Sookie and Symptom, Vampire and Void: Irruption of the Real in True Blood”