Introduction

Shakespeare's works do not embody any doctrine or set of beliefs, as his critics have long been tempted to suggest, but they do stage encounters with certain kinds of thinking — ethical, political, epistemological, even metaphysical — that still concern us nowadays.

They can be shown to draw on ancient philosophies — Platonism, Stoicism, Scepticism — either directly or through medieval and continental Renaissance thought. Or their scenarios can be likened to those of other kinds of intellectual argument, such as legal or theological discourse.

Purpose of the Volume

The essays collected in this volume demonstrate the value of thinking with Shakespeare, either as embodied in Shakespeare's own creative programme or in our use of philosophical paradigms as an approach to his works.

Contributors

The contributors are Colin Burrow, Terence Cave, Gabriel Josipovoci, Charles Martindale, Stephen Medcalf, Subha Mukherji, A. D. Nuttall, and N. K. Sugimura.