Janine Louise Zwicky (born 10 May 1955) is a Canadian philosopher, poet, essayist, and musician. She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2022.

Life and career

Zwicky received her BA from the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

and earned her PhD at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

in 1981 where her studies focussed on the

philosophy of logic Philosophy of logic is the area of philosophy that studies the scope and nature of logic. It investigates the philosophical problems raised by logic, such as the presuppositions often implicitly at work in theories of logic and in their application ...

and

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

. She subsequently taught philosophy at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

; philosophy and interdisciplinary humanities at the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates ...

; philosophy at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...

; philosophy, English, and creative writing at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Ameri ...

; and philosophy at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

. Zwicky is

Professor Emerita ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

in the Department of Philosophy at the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...

, where she taught both philosophy and interdisciplinary humanities courses from 1996 until 2009. She has served as a faculty member at the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

Writing Studio, has conducted numerous writing workshops, and served as an editor for Brick Books from 1985 to 2018. From 2017 through 2019, she was the series editor of Oskana Poetry and Poetics, an imprint of the University of Regina Press.

Philosophy

Zwicky's philosophical work challenges the hegemonic status of logico-linguistic analysis in 20th and 21st century Anglo-American philosophy. She is a realist who aims to defeat analytic skepticism by exploring the relationship between philosophical and poetic thinking, and by developing the notions of ''resonance'' and ''lyric'' understanding in

ontology In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exi ...

and

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Epis ...

: "Lyric shares with the coherentists, pragmatists, and nihilists the view that foundationalism is intellectually bankrupt: that what analytic system cannot sustain is anything like the claim of naive realism. However, lyric shares with naive realism the view that skepticism is false. What it does not share is the view that it is demonstrably, within system, false." (''Lyric Philosophy'' L264) Her books, ''Lyric Philosophy'' and ''Wisdom & Metaphor'', discuss but also enact this idea of resonance. They consist of many voices that range across diverse disciplines, so that Zwicky's

aphoristic An aphorism (from Greek ἀφορισμός: ''aphorismos'', denoting 'delimitation', 'distinction', and 'definition') is a concise, terse, laconic, or memorable expression of a general truth or principle. Aphorisms are often handed down by tra ...

remarks on the left-hand pages are read with and against excerpts from the history of philosophy, musical scores, paintings, photographs, and poems on the right-hand pages. While Zwicky orders her remarks carefully and has a linear philosophical argument to make, each page is also designed to evoke remarks or images from other pages, prompting non-linear connections and directly demonstrating what she refers to as lyric structure, characterized by resonance. Zwicky believes that

Heraclitus Heraclitus of Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἡράκλειτος , "Glory of Hera"; ) was an ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from the city of Ephesus, which was then part of the Persian Empire. Little is known of Heraclitus's life. He wrot ...

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

, and

Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrians, Austrian-British people, British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy o ...

have purposefully constructed philosophical texts in this way before her. She cites Freud's distinction between primary and secondary processes, as well as

Max Wertheimer Max Wertheimer (April 15, 1880 – October 12, 1943) was an Austro-Hungarian psychologist who was one of the three founders of Gestalt psychology, along with Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Köhler. He is known for his book, ''Productive Thinking'', and ...

's work in

gestalt psychology Gestalt-psychology, gestaltism, or configurationism is a school of psychology that emerged in the early twentieth century in Austria and Germany as a theory of perception that was a rejection of basic principles of Wilhelm Wundt's and Edward ...

, as support for the concepts she promotes. She references pieces of music, works of art, and natural eco-systems as objects that also exhibit lyric structure. Zwicky presents logical analysis and lyric thinking as complementary and includes both in a broader, more total conception of reason. She believes that the Anglo-American notion of what constitutes good philosophy is excessively narrow, and criticizes Continental and poststructural views for their anti-realist vision of the world as nothing more than a projection of human thought and desire. Zwicky promotes balance, arguing that neglect of either logical or lyric thinking leads to our ontological, epistemological, ethical and environmental peril. Dr. James O. Young, Professor of Philosophy at the

has said: "There’s a reasonable chance that people will be reading her work a century from now. This is something that one says about only a very small number of philosophers."

Poetry

Zwicky's poetry is influenced by music in the classical European, blues, and jazz traditions. It also deals with the natural world, and has often been cited for its intense lyricism. ''Thirty-seven Small Songs and Thirteen Silences'' has appeared in Swedish (translated by Roy Isaakson; Palaver Press). Numerous individual poems have been translated into Czech, French, German, Serbian, Spanish and Italian. Among her many accolades, both Zwicky's ''Songs for Relinquishing the Earth'' and ''Robinson's Crossing'' were shortlisted for

Governor General's Awards The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

for Poetry. ''Songs for Relinquishing the Earth'' won the award in 1999. ''Robinson’s Crossing'' won the

Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize The Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize, established in 1986, is awarded annually to the best collection of poetry by a resident of British Columbia, Canada. One of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes, the award was originally known as the B.C. Prize for Poetry. ...

in 2004. Her 2011 book, ''Forge'', was shortlisted for the 2012 Canadian

Griffin Poetry Prize The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. Before 2022, the awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. ...

Bibliography

Books

*''Wittgenstein Elegies'' – 1986, 2015 (2nd Ed.) *''The New Room'' – 1989 (shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award) *''Lyric Philosophy'' – 1992, 2011 (2nd ed.), 2014 (3rd ed.) *''Songs for Relinquishing the Earth'' – 1996, 1998 (winner of the 1999 Governor General's Award for Poetry and shortlisted for the Pat Lowther Award) *''Twenty-One Small Songs'' – 2000 *''Wisdom & Metaphor'' – 2003, 2008 (2nd ed.) (shortlisted for the 2004 Governor General's Award for Nonfiction) *''Robinson's Crossing'' – 2004 (winner of the

; shortlisted for the 2004 Governor General's Award for Poetry and the Pat Lowther Award) *''Thirty-seven Small Songs & Thirteen Silences'' – 2005 (shortlisted for the

and the Pat Lowther Award) *''Plato as Artist'' – 2009 *''Forge'' – 2011 (shortlisted for the 2012

and the Pat Lowther Award) *''Auden as Philosopher: How Poets Think'' - 2011 *''The Book of Frog'' – 2012 *''Vittoria Colonna - Selections from the Rime Spirituali'' with photographs by Robert Moody - 2014 *''Alkibiades' Love: Essays in Philosophy'' – 2015 *''Chamber Music: The Poetry of Jan Zwicky'', ed. Darren Bifford and Warren Heiti - 2015 *''The Long Walk'' – 2016 (Oskana Poetry & Poetics Series
University of Regina Press
*''Learning to Die: Wisdom in the Age of Climate Crisis'' - 2018 (co-authored with Robert Bringhurst)
University of Regina Press
*''The Experience of Meaning'' - 2019 *''Fifty-six Ontological Studies'' with photographs by Robert Moody – 2020

Essays

*"Wittgenstein and the Logic of Inference", ''Dialogue'', Vol. XXI, No. 4, December 1982 *"Bringhurst's Presocratics: Lyric and Ecology" in ''Poetry and Knowing: Speculative Essays and Interviews'' (edited by Tim Lilburn) – 1995 *"Plato's Phaedrus: Philosophy as Dialogue With the Dead", ''Apeiron'', Vol. 30, No. 1, March 1997 *"Being, Polyphony, Lyric: An Open Letter to

Robert Bringhurst Robert Bringhurst Appointments to the Order of Canada (2013). (born 16 October 1946) is a Canadian poet, typographer and author. He has translated substantial works from Haida and Navajo and from classical Greek and Arabic. He wrote ''The Eleme ...

", ''Canadian Literature'', No. 156, Spring 1998 *"The Geology of Norway", ''

Harvard Review of Philosophy ''The Harvard Review of Philosophy'' is an annual peer-reviewed academic journal of philosophy edited by a student collective at Harvard University.Scanlon, Thomas (2002) "Foreword" ''In'' Upham, S. Phineas, ''Philosophers in Conversation: Inter ...

'', Vol. 7, Spring 1999 *"Dream Logic and the Politics of Interpretation" & "Once Upon a Time in the West: Heidegger and the Poets" in ''Thinking and Singing: Poetry & The Practice of Philosophy'' (edited by Tim Lilburn) – 2002 *"Wilderness and Agriculture" in ''The Eye in the Thicket: Essays at a Natural History'' (edited by Sean Virgo) – 2002 *"Integrity and Ornament" in ''Crime and Ornament'', edited by Bernie Miller and Melony Ward 2002 *"Oracularity", ''Metaphilosophy'', Vol. 34, No. 4, July 2003 *"The Ethics of the Negative Review", ''Malahat Review'', No. 144, Fall 2003 *Introduction to ''Hard Choices: Climate Change in Canada'', edited by Harold Coward and A.J. Weaver 2004 *"Mathematical Analogy and Metaphorical Insight", ''The Mathematical Intelligencer'', Vol. 28, No. 2 2006 *'"Lyric, Narrative, Memory" in ''A Ragged Pen: Essays on Poetry & Memory'' – 2006 *"Lyric Realism: Nature Poetry, Silence and Ontology", ''Malahat Review'', No. 165, Winter 2008 *"What Is Ineffable?", ''International Studies in the Philosophy of Science'', Vol. 26, No. 2, June 2012, pp 197–217 *"Alcibiades' Love" in ''Philosophy as a Way of Life: Ancients and Moderns'' (edited by Michael Chase, Stephen R. L. Clark, and Michael McGhee) – 2013 *"A Note on Jane Jacobs’s ''Systems of Survival'', or Why We Will Not Be Able to Prevent Global Ecological Collapse” in ''Brick'' 105, Summer 2020, pp. 48–53 *"Frost and Snow", ''Eidos: A Journal for Philosophy of Culture'', Vol. 5, No. 1, 2021, pp 146–154

Interviews

*"There is No Place That Does Not See You" – 2002 Interviewed by Anne Simpson in ''Where the Words Come From: Canadian Poets in Conversation'' (edited by Tim Bowling) *"The Details: An Interview with Jan Zwicky" – 2008 Interviewed by Jay Ruzesky in the ''Malahat Review'', No. 165, Winter 2008 *"Perfect Fluency" – 2011 Interviewed by Scott Pinkmountain in the ''Owen Wister Review'' *"The Griffin Poetry Prize Questionnaire: Jan Zwicky" – 4 June 2012, The National Post, Mark Medley

Conversations

*"Contemplation and Resistance: A conversation ith Tim Lilburn excerpt reprinted in ''Lyric Ecology'' (edited by Mark Dickinson and Clare Goulet, 2010) *"Embodiment and Voice: A Conversation", with Darren Bifford and Warren Heiti, Brick 94 (Winter 2015), 15–23.

Commentary

*''Lyric Ecology: An Appreciation of the Work of Jan Zwicky'', ed. Mark Dickinson and Clare Goulet – 2010

References

External links

Jan Zwicky reads from ''Robinson's Crossing'' and ''Songs for Relinquishing the Earth''Jan Zwicky reads "Night Music"
The Ring. University of Victoria's community newspaper. 1999
Introduction to ''Hard Choices: Climate Change in Canada''"Wilderness and Agriculture": An essay by Jan Zwicky
at Library and Archives Canada
Gaspereau Press HomepageThe Griffin Poetry Prize Questionnaire''Lyric Philosophy''
an
''Wisdom & Metaphor''
on Brush Education's website
Jan Zwicky at Brick Books
*
Jan Zwicky fonds (R11836)
at Library and Archives Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Zwicky, Jan 1955 births 20th-century Canadian poets 21st-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian philosophers 21st-century Canadian philosophers Canadian women poets Academic staff of European Graduate School Governor General's Award-winning poets Living people Philosophers of logic Philosophers of science University of Calgary alumni University of Toronto alumni Academic staff of the University of Waterloo Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario Academic staff of the University of Victoria Writers from British Columbia Writers from Calgary Canadian women philosophers 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers Canadian women non-fiction writers