Possession, Self-possession and Multiple Selves in the Writings of John Fowles
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Abstract
In his work, John Fowles (1926-2005) ponders questions of existential freedom. For him, the biggest obstacle to this freedom is the Cartesian paradigm of self-possession with its analytical and classifying obsessions. Fowles does not see freedom as emanating from an understanding of the self as a unity but rather as emanating from embracing the multiplicity of possible selves that each person has. In this paper, I trace these ideas through John Fowles's work, in particular The French Lieutenant’s Woman, The Collector and The Aristos. I also outline some of the intellectual influences such as Heraclitus, Sartre, Descartes and Linnaeus who he variously sympathizes with and reacts against in his writing.
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References
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