Description: Provides an ontological characterization of texts, explores the issues raised by the identity of various texts, and presents a view of the function of authors and audiences, and of their relations to texts.
Brief description: Jorge J. E. Gracia is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Comparative Literature at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. His many books include Painting Borges: Philosophy Interpreting Art Interpreting Literature; Images of Thought: Philosophical Interpretations of Carlos Estévez's Art; and Identity, Memory, and Diaspora: Voices of Cuban-American Artists, Writers, and Philosophers, all published by SUNY Press.
Review Quotes:
"Gracia's argument is impressively clear and to the point. He develops a complex taxonomy of the distinctions he must marshal in order to fully explain what a text is, describing and defending each distinction with care and in detail. His conclusions follow reasonably from his arguments and he does an excellent job anticipating criticisms and answering them. Gracia is fully informed by the relevant philosophical scholarship on texts and on the wide range of metaphysical issues of which he must take account in order to establish his position." -- George Allan, Dickinson College