Presenter: Preston Waddoups
Authors: Preston Waddoups
Faculty Advisor: Michaelann Nelson
Institution: Utah State University
Although Virginia Woolf associated closely with philosophers from the analytic tradition (such as G.E. Moore) during her lifetime and was more familiar with their ideas than those of continental philosophers, I believe many of the philosophical views contained in her novels Mrs. Dallowayand The Waves as well as her essay “The Death of the Moth” align closely with ideas found in the works of continental philosophers such as Martin Heidegger, Simone de Beauvoir, and Jean-Paul Sartre. More specifically, I believe Woolf and these thinkers share similarities in their ideas surrounding death, responses to one’s own mortality, and identity. I will discuss these similarities in terms of philosophical concepts such as bad faith and being-towards-death, but I will also point out instances where the ideas in Woolf’s works contradict or modify these concepts. Following this discussion I will present the unique philosophical views in Woolf’s works that emerge from these differences as well as how these views fit into the broader cultural and philosophical dialogues of her time.