negative capability

E233711

Negative capability is a literary and philosophical concept describing the capacity to remain in uncertainty, doubt, and ambiguity without the compulsive need for logical resolution or factual certainty.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
negative capability canonical 2
Negative Capability 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf aesthetic concept ⓘ
literary concept ⓘ
philosophical concept ⓘ
appliedIn aesthetic judgment ⓘ
creative writing pedagogy ⓘ
fiction writing ⓘ
philosophy of knowledge ⓘ
poetry interpretation ⓘ
associatedWith aesthetic receptivity ⓘ
epistemic humility ⓘ
imaginative openness ⓘ
negative theology ⓘ
poetic creativity ⓘ
romanticism ⓘ
characterizedBy acceptance of uncertainty ⓘ
openness to multiple meanings ⓘ
resistance to premature intellectual closure ⓘ
suspension of the demand for logical resolution ⓘ
tolerance of ambiguity ⓘ
coinedBy John Keats ⓘ
coinedIn 1817 ⓘ
contextOfOrigin English Romantic poetry ⓘ
contrastedWith didacticism in literature ⓘ
dogmatic certainty ⓘ
rationalism ⓘ
systematic philosophy ⓘ
definedAs capacity to remain in uncertainty, doubt, and ambiguity without seeking immediate resolution ⓘ
developedInResponseTo perceived limitations of Enlightenment rationality ⓘ
emphasizes experience over explanation ⓘ
intuition over rigid logic ⓘ
process over conclusion ⓘ
firstDescribedIn a letter from John Keats to his brothers George and Tom Keats ⓘ
hasNotableExpositor Paul de Man ⓘ
Walter Jackson Bate ⓘ
influenced certain strands of psychoanalytic literary criticism ⓘ
literary modernism ⓘ
reader-response criticism ⓘ
relatedTo aesthetic theory ⓘ
existential philosophy ⓘ
postmodern literary criticism ⓘ
psychoanalytic theory ⓘ
romantic literary theory ⓘ
requires capacity to hold conflicting ideas ⓘ
comfort with incomplete understanding ⓘ
suspension of disbelief ⓘ
supports metaphorical thinking ⓘ
non-linear thinking ⓘ
open-ended interpretation ⓘ
viewedAs counter to the desire for totalizing systems ⓘ
virtue in poetic composition ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

John Keats → coinage → negative capability ⓘ
Marianne Faithfull → album → Negative Capability ⓘ
linked to: negative capability
Letters of John Keats → notableConcept → negative capability ⓘ
subject linked to: letters of John Keats