The articulation of the unsayable, of negativity--that which has been excluded by what is sayable--is one of the most important areas of contemporary humanistic study. This volume brings together fifteen outstanding literary theorists and philosophers to examine ways to make the unsayable tangible.

These essays-which consider a wide variety of cultures from ancient Egypt to contemporary Japan- describe the conditions under which cultures that do not dominate each other may yet achieve a limited translatability of cultures.

Kant and Milton brings to bear new evidence and long-neglected materials to show the importance of Kant's encounter with Milton's poetry to the formation of Kant's moral and aesthetic thought. Sanford Budick reveals the relation between a poetic vision and a philosophy that theorized what that poetry was doing. As Plato and Aristotle contemplate Homer, so Kant contemplates Milton. In all these cases philosophy and poetry allow us to better understand each other. Milton gave voice to the transformation of human understanding effected by the Protestant Revolt, making poetry of the...