Franz Kafka and the World Without a Path

Franz Kafka is famous for his stunning, unparalleled, and often searing writings, from novels like The Trial and The Castle to short stories like “The Metamorphosis” and “A Hunger Artist.” All of these fictions clearly engage with philosophy, and they often seem to present a world without a clear path. Even as readers, we often struggle to find a clear path, something that would help us find our way in Kafka’s extraordinary world. So what does Kafka actually believe? What can we learn by spending time with his stories? And are they really trying to “teach” us something, or is their philosophical gift to us something far more precious? Josh and Blakey navigate the maze with Karen Zumhagen-Yekplé from Tulane University, author of A Different Order of Difficulty: Literature after Wittgenstein.

Part of the Jewish Thinkers series.