Download Empiricism vs. Solipsism

Empiricism vs.
Solipsism
The Final Act of Grendel
Defined
O Empiricism is the philosophical idea that the
source of all knowledge comes from direct
experience with an external reality.
O Think about science– we call science “empirical”
because it studies only phenomena that can be
observed in nature.
O Thus, empiricism is the opposite of solipsism,
which claims that anything outside the mind
cannot be known.
In Gardner’s Words…
O About the last chapter Gardner says,
"Grendel begins to apprehend the universe.
Poetry is an accident, the novel says, but it's
a great one.”
Applying to Grendel
O Towards the beginning of the novel, Grendel is
solipsistic– remember the “only I exist!” from Chapter
Two?
O In this final chapter, however, Grendel encounters
Beowulf (the empiricist).
O Does Grendel die a solipsist, or does he become an
empiricist convert? Why or why not?
O In reflecting upon Gardner’s words, how does Grendel
“begin to apprehend the universe” at the end and
what does any of this have to do with poetry?