The Importance of Philosophy in Biographies

In Vickensign's later work, there is an ongoing and important contrast between the understanding one gets from a theory and what Vickensign calls the understanding that consists in seeing connections. And Vickensign insists that philosophical understanding is of the latter kind. Boswell's biography of Johnson, Elman's biography of Oscar Wilde are deeply non-theoretical. These are rich, fascinating biographies that attempt and succeed in understanding another person.