Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Findeisen, Christopher
Author's Email Address	cmf06h@fsu.edu
URN	etd-04142008-224658
Title	Tell Me Something I Don’t Know (If You Can): The Pragmatic Challenge to Subjectivity in Frost and Stevens
Degree	Master of Arts
Department	English, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Andrew Epstein Committee Chair RM Berry Committee Member Tim Parrish Committee Member
Keywords	James Idealism Radical Empiricism Dewey
Date of Defense	2008-04-07
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract Enlightenment institutions dominate our cultural landscape. Perhaps no idea is as problematic as the belief in “Cartesian dualism” — the separation between mind and body, interior and exterior, subject and object. Since Descartes, philosophers and literary critics have been trying to reconcile that dichotomous relationship in order to create strong epistemological models of subjectivity. This thesis explores the ways in which pragmatism allows modern poets like Robert Frost and Wallace Stevens to challenge the notion of Cartesian subjectivity. By encouraging their readers to dissolve the subject/object distinction, these poets attempt to bridge the subjectivity gap between independent minds. As these disembodied voices manifest themselves in our consciousness — appearing in the one place they don’t belong — they challenge our notion of epistemological independence and enable us to enact a more social-self.
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