Sadler's Lectures
Sadler's Lectures
Lectures on classic and contemporary philosophical texts and thinkers by Gregory B. Sadler
Jorge Luis Borges - Kafka And His Precursors - Sadler's Lectures
12 minutes Posted Mar 23, 2026 at 1:01 pm.
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This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th century philosophical short story writer, essayist, and poet Jorge Luis Borges's essay "Kafka And His Precursors", in which he first examines the idea of literary precursors, and then identifies and briefly discusses six precursors to the works of Franz Kafka, in his view. These are:
Zeno's paradoxes of motion
an apologue by Han Yu
the writings of Kierkegaard
Browning's poem "Fears and Scruples"
a short story by Léon Bloy
Lord Dunsany's short story "Carcassonne"
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