The Philosophical Transmission of Literary Theory

FAIN: FA-11682-77

William W. Trimpi
Stanford University (Stanford, CA 94305-2004)

To write the third of three monographs on the origin and development of literary theory from Antiquity through the Renaissance which will be a study of the philosophical contributions to literary theory. Planned topics for investigation are: l) the Neoplatonic distinction between the mimetic and symbolic literary procedures and the Christian developments of scriptural and secular exegesis. 2) The search by natural scientists for quantitative methods of measuring qualitative experience. 3) The various intellectual controversies of the Middle Ages such as conceptualism vs. empiricism and rationalism vs. voluntarism.