The Philosophy Club of Characters and Authors

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Rodin’s “The Thinker.” (Photo by me during a long-ago trip to Paris.)

There are more action heroes than philosophers in fiction, but novels do occasionally feature characters who think deeply about the human condition.

One such protagonist is Isabel Dalhousie of Alexander McCall Smith’s The Sunday Philosophy Club. (Hmm…that title points to the novel’s frequent metaphysical content.) And 40-something intellectual Isabel is actually kind of an action heroine, too, as she tries to solve the mystery of a young man’s death amid her musings about the meaning of life and such.

By the way, I thought The Sunday Philosophy Club — which I read last week — was good but not great; perhaps some of its many sequels are better?

Larry Darrell of The Razor’s Edge by W. Somerset Maugham is hyper-focused on trying to find a transcendent explanation for why things are. This is after the pilot is traumatized by his World War I experiences, including the death of a comrade. Death and war can clearly make a person philosophical.

Raskolnikov of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment is fixated on good vs. evil, how an individual’s actions affect society, and so on. Perhaps we can call him a murderer-philosopher.

Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, clearly has a philosophical bent in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. Harry’s mentor is wise, reflective, and thinks deeply about deep things.

Of course, some people play-act at being philosophical while not really being deep thinkers. Such is the case with Rev. Edward Casaubon, who puts on intellectual airs in George Eliot’s Middlemarch but is actually rather dull, shallow, and not particularly nice — as young Dorothea Brooke learns after marrying him.

Additional characters with philosophical leanings in other novels I’ve read include Lelia of George Sand’s Lelia, Harry Haller of Hermann Hesse’s Steppenwolf, Binx Bolling of Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer, and the unnamed narrator in Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, to cite a few.

Authors not previously mentioned in this post who wrote philosophically in at least some of their work include James Baldwin, Italo Calvino, Albert Camus, Umberto Eco, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Goethe, Aldous Huxley, Franz Kafka, Herman Melville, Iris Murdoch, Marcel Proust, Jean-Paul Sartre, Mary Shelley, Voltaire, and Virginia Woolf, among others.

Your thoughts about, and examples of, this topic?

Misty the cat asks: “Can’t I get an actual throne from which to survey my kingdom?”

My comedic 2024 book — the part-factual/part-fictional/not-a-children’s-work Misty the Cat…Unleashed — is described and can be purchased on Amazon in paperback or on Kindle. It’s feline-narrated! (And Misty says Amazon reviews are welcome. 🙂 )

This 90-second promo video for my book features a talking cat: 🙂

I’m also the author of a 2017 literary-trivia book…

…and a 2012 memoir that focuses on cartooning and more.

In addition to this weekly blog, I write the 2003-started/award-winning “Montclairvoyant” topical-humor column every Thursday for Montclair Local. The latest piece — about a pizza mural controversy and more — is here.

123 thoughts on “The Philosophy Club of Characters and Authors”

  1. Pingback: BOOK: Wish I Was Here | 😉 Author Ilsa Rey Mini Interview – priorhouse blog

  4. Trollope, philosopher of money in society, kinder and more generous than Dickens.

    Hard to choose, but cut down to three, I’d take Dr Thorne, the Last Chronicle of Barset, and The way we live now.

    One complaint – The £20 the Rev Josaiah Crawley can’t account for isn’t really a trivial amount. Literary critics don’t need to be economists – Measuring Worth will do the work for you., in $$ or ££ In 1867, the relative income value of £20 is over £21,000

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    • Thank you, Esther! I’ve only read a couple of Anthony Trollope novels, but I agree that he offered a certain philosophical element in his writing. Contemplation of money, its uses, its positives, its negatives, etc., IS philosophical in a way. And, yes, £20 does sound like a large sum; thanks for the math!

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  6. HI Dave, a great post today. I have provided my thoughts above in my response to Audrey and Liz. I think a lot of books contain some philosophy. Stephen King uses it in his writing. I’m thinking specifically of The Stand and his thoughts on human societies.

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  7. I know we are talking about philosophy in general and not just ethics, but ethical questions are particularly interesting to me. I like a piece of fiction when it confronts the characters ( and therefore the readers) with ethical dilemmas.

    One writer who does that very deliberately is George Bernard Shaw in his plays, especially Pygmalion and Saint Joan.

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  9. Fortunately there are philosopher writers, Dave, and thanks very much for your reminder! Frankly speaking, I very much enjoyed the way Herman Hesse built his Harry Haller in his”Der Steppenwolf “and the way this last one was trying to find his identity and a sense of life. He also wrote about the disorientation and contradictions of that time. I would also like to mention Hesse’s SIDDHARTHA , who is of the opinion that one cannot become Gotama or Buddha through learning but only by doing!

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  10. Generally this kind of thing is too deep for me, I have to say. The nearest I got was to try to read ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ by Robert M. Pirsig – a philosophical fiction / autobiographical novel. I managed to read last than a quarter of it (and I also dropped it in the bath, oops).

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  11. I love your pic of “The Thinker”, Dave. What a perfect image for your post…which is making me think! And smile. I’ll never know for sure, but I wonder if our daughter’s interest in philosophy was spurred on by Albus Dumbledore, prompting her to earn her minor in philosophy. 🥰

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  12. Neat photo, especially since you took the shot while in Paris. And a neat topic for your post. Back in college, one of my favorite classes was eastern European literature. The books had a good dose of the absurd (like Kafka) and tended to be philosophical. A big part of that was the shifting borders of countries due to wars. Milan Kundera was one of the authors, and his “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” feels like it would fit into this post’s topic.

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    • Thank you, Dave! The photo was taken with a cheap camera, and the print is definitely fading with age. But I guess it kind of works. 🙂

      You’re absolutely right that some Eastern European literature can get philosophical because of the times and places it was written — and the shifting of borders, as you say, had something to do with the mindset of authors. “The Good Soldier Švejk” by Czech writer Jaroslav Hašek is another absurdist/part-philosophical novel from the region that comes to mind.

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      • Yes, I should really revisit it again soon! I’ll never look at a beetle the same way again, lol! I’m currently reading your fabulous book “Fascinating Facts” and really enjoying it so far. It’s very interesting and I’m finding out so many quirky and cool things I never knew before! 😊

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        • “I’ll never look at a beetle the same way again” — ha, Ada! 😂 Fortunately, the beetles we usually see are a little smaller. 🙂

          And thanks so much for the kind words about “Fascinating Facts”! Very appreciated! Literary trivia — heck, trivia in general — can indeed be so interesting.

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  14. Hi Dave,

    I’ve just started a re-read of “Crime and Punishment”. Raskolnikov is a murderer?! I don’t remember that! Kidding of course. Though I’m 10% in and there are no dead people yet. I remember the crime happening pretty much on page 3 last time. But oh it’s even better than I remember. I was unsure about picking it up again as I thought I might have just got lucky last time and this time it would be heavy and boring and hard to read. But all that angst and philosophy has me just as hooked as before. The good vs evil, and what is ok to do for a monetary reward? Absolutely unputdownable, despite there not actually being a lot going on plot wise.

    Sue

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    • Thank you, Sue! “Crime and Punishment” is indeed a riveting book to reread. Did that myself, though the rereading was many years apart. That novel could be renamed “Angst and Philosophy,” after your words. 🙂

      Perhaps Raskolnikov deprived people of life rather than murdered them? 🤔 

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  17. Great comments by everyone. I’ve read some of the books mentioned, but certainly not all. And in the meantime I’ve remembered The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault, set during the Peloponnesian War in ancient Greece. Socrates is a character, and there is a certain amount of discussion of his ideas, as well as historical events and a coming-of-age story.

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    • Thank you, Audrey! I agree about the comments. 🙂

      I appreciate the mention of Mary Renault (whose excellent “The Praise Singer” I read a while back after you recommended it). Socrates being a character in “The Last of the Wine” certainly promises some philosophical content!

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  19. Dave, nice post. I would say some of the characters in Lord of the Rings were deeply philosophical… among them Aragorn, the reluctant king in exile; Gandalf as he’s reborn in a distinctly Christian fashion (Tolkien was a devout Catholic and friends with Christian apologist C.S. Lewis); and Frodo during his journey from the Shire to Mount Doom.

    I also think some of the Southern Gothic authors (Faulkner, Lee, Williams, O’Connor) infuse their characters with transformative philosophical elements. Two of my favs are Faulkner’s “Light in August” and McCuller’s “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” 😎

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    • Thank you, Darryl! I totally agree that the characters and authors you discussed got philosophical at times. Great mentions!

      To the Southern Gothic writers you cited I’d add Cormac McCarthy (some of his novels were set in the South even as others were set in the West). Like you, I’m a big fan of “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” and “Light in August.” I don’t like some of Faulkner’s work, by “Light in August” is excellent!

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  21. Lewis Carroll’s Alice Through The Looking Glass is full of philosophy. I especially liked the dialogue with Tweedledee and Tweedledum and Alice re: real existence vs illusion using the Red King: “If that there King was to wake,” added Tweedledum, “you’d go out — bang! — just like a candle!” Sounds like a true example of a cartesian circle to me. There is The Honourable Cat by Paul Gallico and Feline Philosphy by John Gray in their books as well. In addition philosophy is part of Steinbeck’s fiction also, here’s link: https://www.steinbeckintheschools.com/authors-context/steinbecks-philosophy. Another great theme Dave. Thanks, Susi

    BTW, just an observation re Rodin’s The Thinker: he’s certainly muscular for someone who just sits and thinks.

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    • Thank you, Susi! Yes, Lewis Carroll was quite philosophical in his whimsical way. And definitely making some societal commentary. And you’re right about John Steinbeck having his philosophical moments, as the excellent piece you linked explains so well. In “The Winter of Our Discontent,” too, which I don’t think the piece mentioned unless I missed it.

      Ha — 😂 — your observation about “The Thinker”! So true!

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  22. I can’t think of any examples aside from the ones you’ve mentioned. I tend to dislike overt philosophizing in fiction (a la talking heads). I prefer a worldview to emerge organically from the the characters and the story.

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  23. I would choose Konstantin Levin, perhaps the main protagonist of Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”, he was always trying to find the meaning of life and trying to reform agriculture in his estate.

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  24. An excellent topic, Dave and one that is a great follow-up post from your one from last Sunday. I belief that book series have the potential to provide an opportunity to go deeper into characters and worlds, but I have found that maintaining narrative consistency and quality across multiple installments can be challenging. And then there are writers who attempt to extend stories, especially those in the public domain like Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,”. They demonstrate the enduring appeal of beloved narratives and characters. Even so, these adaptations, such as “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” or “Death Comes to Pemberley,” highlight the fine line between creative reimagining and straying too far from the original work’s essence.

    As for a series that includes a philosophical outlet, I found one in Lawrence Block’s series of novels centered on a burglar with a philosophical outlook. In his book, “The Burglar Who Studied Spinoza,” Bernie Rhodenbarr, a gentleman burglar and bookstore owner, finds himself embroiled in a complex mystery involving a stolen manuscript and a series of intriguing characters. Bernie’s wit and philosophical musings, inspired by Spinoza, guide him as he navigates the criminal underworld, blending humor and suspense. He has a great way of writing, but as he once wrote, “The less attention I pay to what people want and the more attention I pay to just writing the book I want to write, the better I do.”

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  25. Philosophers in fiction? A difficult one, Dave. I don’t look to fiction for philosophical musings, though they do exist as you’ve indicated. In their own way, stories that highlight social issues do force us to question our way of being and doing in our interactions with others, human and non-human.

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  26. An excellent topic, Dave, as well as an excellent opportunity for me to recommend to you a text which I found many years ago in an obscure bookshop. Entitled ‘Pooh and the Philosophers’, It provides positive proof that Winnie the Pooh, despite having been slandered for many years on account of the size and capacity of his cerebral matter, was and is in fact in possession of a vast intellect of a philosophical nature. And yah pooh sucks to the naysayers. Unfortunately I can’t post a picture of the cover here, but it is a great book, the answer to a bet by author and philosopher John Tyerman Williams, who proceeds to demonstrate that Winnie the Pooh can hold his own in terms of the ideas of the great philosophers. The Amazon US link is enclosed below, for your perusal. It’s out of print, but 2nd hand copies are available, and I can thorougly recommend it. Bet you weren’t expecting this! 🙂 🙂 🙂 https://www.amazon.com/Pooh-Philosophers-Wisdom-S/dp/1405205172?crid=HP5CXLVW0GPO

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  27. Gee, philosophical…

    I read Tropic of Capricorn, by Henry Miller, when I was around 20. The fictional autobiography seemed philosophical to me at the time. I felt all… deep for reading it.

    Yet, the only thing I remember about it after all these years is that I have never wanted to read anything else by him. So how good was it?

    Anyway, the first book that popped into mind was Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. Were Marlowe’s open minded, yet racist tinged thoughts philosophical?

    Well, Dave, those are my thoughts on this topic.

    Misha says Misty did a lovely video this week, and passes her compliments on to the crew!

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    • Thank you, Resa! I’ve never tried Henry Miller’s work. Not a great sign that you didn’t want to read him again, though it sounds like “Tropic of Capricorn” had at least some appeal.

      “Heart of Darkness” is an excellent mention! I do think there’s some philosophical content there — from my memory of reading it many years ago. It of course helped inspire the film “Apocalypse Now” rather than the slightly less action-packed “Philosophy Now.”

      Misty appreciates your words about the video. Ha! 😂 His film crew is the trio of me, myself, and I. 🙂

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      • I haven’t seen “Philosophy Now”…. Where is it playing? I tried to look it up. Have you sent me on a philosophical Canada goose chase?

        Oh cool! Sounds like Misty has a small but efficient crew. Did you get Crew Jackets? Gotta have Crew Jackets!
        🐝
        OMG…I said Crew Jackets, not Yellow Jackets.
        I’m outta here! 🏃‍♀️

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        • LOL! 😂

          I’d also love to see “Philosophy Now”…if that movie existed. 🙂 But Canadian geese exist about a five-minute walk from my apartment in/near a local park pond. 🙂

          Yes, Misty’s film crew is bare bones — and footage is shot with a 2017 iPhone that somehow still performs decently. It helps that I drop it only about once a year. 🙂

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