Neo-Stoicism and Skepticism in Part One of Don Quijote

Removing the Authority of a Genre

Daniel Lorca

This book explains how Cervantes took advantage of neo-stoicism and skepticism to remove the authority of the Romances of Chivalry, which was a popular genre during his time. It also explains why his strategy, which would have been instantly recognizable during the period, is no longer effective: our current moral systems are significantly different from the moral systems that were influential during Cervantes’ time, and consequently, what used to be self-evident is no longer the case. Therefore, this book may be useful to the literary critic interested in the philosophical foundations of Don Quijote, to the moral philosopher interested in the differences between pre-enlightenment virtue-ethics and current moral systems, and also in the field of the history of ideas. Don Quijote offers a unique opportunity to observe changes in moral thinking throughout time because it is a universal book, discussed extensively throughout out the centuries, and therefore the on-going discussion offers strong evidence to discover how morality has changed, and continues to change, through time.

Lexington Books

Pages: 168 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-1-4985-2265-6 • Hardback • July 2016 • $93.00 • (£72.00)

978-1-4985-2266-3 • eBook • July 2016 • $88.00 • (£68.00)

Subjects: Literary Criticism / European / Spanish & Portuguese, Literary Criticism / General, Literary Criticism / Renaissance, Literary Criticism / Modern / 17th Century

Neo-Stoicism and Skepticism in Part One of Don Quijote

Removing the Authority of a Genre

Hardback

eBook

Summary

This book explains how Cervantes took advantage of neo-stoicism and skepticism to remove the authority of the Romances of Chivalry, which was a popular genre during his time. It also explains why his strategy, which would have been instantly recognizable during the period, is no longer effective: our current moral systems are significantly different from the moral systems that were influential during Cervantes’ time, and consequently, what used to be self-evident is no longer the case. Therefore, this book may be useful to the literary critic interested in the philosophical foundations of Don Quijote, to the moral philosopher interested in the differences between pre-enlightenment virtue-ethics and current moral systems, and also in the field of the history of ideas. Don Quijote offers a unique opportunity to observe changes in moral thinking throughout time because it is a universal book, discussed extensively throughout out the centuries, and therefore the on-going discussion offers strong evidence to discover how morality has changed, and continues to change, through time.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 168 • Trim: 6¼ x 9¼

978-1-4985-2265-6 • Hardback • July 2016 • $93.00 • (£72.00)

978-1-4985-2266-3 • eBook • July 2016 • $88.00 • (£68.00)

Subjects: Literary Criticism / European / Spanish & Portuguese, Literary Criticism / General, Literary Criticism / Renaissance, Literary Criticism / Modern / 17th Century

Author

Daniel Lorca is assistant professor of modern languages and literatures at Oakland University.

Table of Contents

1. How Did Cervantes Remove the Authority of a Genre?
2. The Skeptical Story of Don Quijote and Don Quijote’s Dogmatism
3.Neo-Stoicism and Don Quijote’s Lack of Justice4.Marcela, the Fictional Sage in Part I of Don Quijote
5.Don Quijote, Neo-Stoicism and the Philosophy of the Late Enlightenment

Reviews

By encouraging readers to see the work through the lens of Cervantes’s contemporaries, Daniel Lorca adds an important wrinkle to scholarship about Quixote. Graduate students and researchers wishing to wrestle with the thorny issues posed by the novel will find the work of particular interest. The book is remarkably succinct, which is an advantage.... By encouraging us to read Don Quixote according to the mental framework of Cervantes’s contemporaries, Lorca adds another layer to our understanding of the ingenious gentleman from La Mancha.
— Renaissance Quarterly

Lorca’s book is remarkably succinct and categorical about its findings. . . Although it is always difficult to prove authorial intention, by proposing to read Don Quijote against the moral and ethical horizons of its time, Lorca has added one more challenge to our current understanding of Cervantes’ cuerdiloco protagonist. His book will be useful to critics interested in the philosophical currents of the sixteenth century, in moral philosophy, specifically in the context of the differences between early modern ethics and more current modes of thinking, and finally to those interested in the history of ideas.
— Bulletin of Spanish Studies

Lorca sheds new light on the philosophical dimensions of Don Quijote by positing neo-stoicism and skepticism as integrated forces in the work. He demonstrates the impact of late Enlightenment readings on our current interpretation of the novel, as a corrective to excess focus on the legacy of Romanticism. His comparative analysis of the epistemological practices employed by Don Quijote and Marcela enhances our understanding of both characters and of Cervantes’ parody of romance narrative.
— Barbara Simerka, Queens College, CUNY

Daniel Lorca's analysis sheds fresh, revealing light on Cervantes and the early modern philosophical discourses that inform Don Quijote. He lays out his questions and develops his arguments with admirable clarity. This is a rigorous, erudite contribution to Cervantine studies.
— Christopher Weimer, Oklahoma State University