Wisdom & Metaphor
by Jan Zwicky

October 2003 | Philosophy | $31.95 CAN | $31.95 US
1894031784 | 9781894031783 | Trade Paper

Out of Print

"The shape of metaphorical thought is also the shape of wisdom," states Jan Zwicky in her introduction to Wisdom & Metaphor, "What a human mind must do in order to comprehend a metaphor is a version of what it must do in order to be wise." In this follow-up to her astonishingly original book Lyric Philosophy (1992), Zwicky sets out to explore the ways in which metaphorical thought links to wisdom: "Those who think metaphorically are enabled to think truly," suggests Zwicky, "because the shape of their thinking echoes the shape of the world." Zwicky's prose style is the very model of her thesis, echoing the measured, sure-spoken clarity of her poetry, guiding the reader through multiple layers of meaning in the right-hand/left-hand voice style that she employed so successfully in Lyric Philosophy. Wisdom & Metaphor is a stunning work that will engage a broad range of readers.

Author Biography

Jan Zwicky is a musician, philosopher and award-winning poet. In 1999, she won the Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry for Songs for Relinquishing the Earth. Her most recent collection of poetry, Thirty-seven Small Songs & Thirteen Silences (GP, 2005), was nominated for the Pat Lowther Award and the Dorothy Livesay Prize. Zwicky currently teaches philosophy at the University of Victoria.

Reviews

"There's a reasonable chance that people will be reading [Zwicky's] work a century from now. This is something that one says of only a very small number of philosophers." Dr. James Young, Chair, Dept. of Philosphy, University of Victoria

"It is one that should be read, considered and then reread, since there is no doubt that what Zwicky has given us is a book of wisdom." Anne Simpson, Halifax Chronicle Herald