The poetic-philosophical experiences of Fernando Pessoa and the non-philosophy of Alberto Caeiro

Abstract

ABSTRACT: By centering on existence, the experiences expressed in Caeiro’s poems reverberate in phenomenological philosophy. In this context, Renaud Barbaras presents a deep and original reading of the Caerian corpus by approaching it from problems that had been explored by Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology. In his essay Fenomenologia e Literatura: a não filosofia de Fernando Pessoa, Barbaras shows how the experiences in the poems of Caeiro transcend certain solutions that had been developed by the French philosopher, leading to a radical perspective on thought and existence, which can and should be explored by philosophy. By approaching the poetic-philosophical thought of Pessoa and Barbaras’s reading of Caeiro’s poetry, this essay explores the dialogue between the poetic and philosophical discourses, showing how the poetic can also be a privileged setting for the development of philosophical experiences that exceed, while also make, philosophy.

Keywords: phenomenology, poetics; non-philosophy, Pessoa, Merleau-Ponty, Barbaras.