PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Pedro Schacht Pereira
TI  - Uma Filosofia <em>Buissonnieuse</em>, ou de como o narrador desce as escadas
AID  - 10.1353/lbr.2008.0014
DP  - 2007 Dec 01
TA  - Luso-Brazilian Review
PG  - 87--116
VI  - 44
IP  - 2
4099  - http://lbr.uwpress.org/content/44/2/87.short
4100  - http://lbr.uwpress.org/content/44/2/87.full
SO  - Luso-Braz Rev2007 Dec 01; 44
AB  - In this article I address a long-standing issue in Machadian studies, that of the relationship between philosophy and literature in the fiction of Machado de Assis. I start by acknowledging my indebtedness to the studies that Abel Barros Baptista has recently dedicated to the Brazilian author. In his article, “A Reforma Hermenêutica: Acerca da legibilidade de Dom Casmurro,” Baptista implies an anti-hermeneutical reading of Machado’s novels and short stories in order to advocate for a “hermeneutical reform.” With his contribution in mind, I proceed to question the theoretical and critical presuppositions of some of the most canonical readings that have been proposed to address the focus of this essay. I conclude by proposing a reading of the short story “O espelho: Esboço de uma nova teoria da alma humana,” which exemplifies the principles that I sustain as being indispensable for addressing the issue of the relationship between philosophy and literature, that is, the philosophical relevance of literature as much as the literary relevance of philosophy.