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Abstract
The following study offers two perspectives on William Faulkner, exploring the way in which the self-proclaimed "writer [and] not a literary man" reflected and, more importantly, developed in his works the ideas of two important philosophers, arguably creating his own philosophy. The first examination offers a close reading of one scene of Faulkners Sanctuary in light of Nietzsches The Birth of Tragedy that exhibits how the need for tragedy evolves under Faulkners treatment. The second essay is considerably larger in scope, but necessarily so: it attempts a speculative biography and explanation of Faulkners design as exhibited in Absalom, Absalom! and explained in line with Hegels Phenomenology of Spirit. The following therefore offers two very different examinations of two very different philosophers, and Faulkners philosophical prowess alone enables a discussion of both in the same study.