Examining the Use of Logic in the Poetry of Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Rebecca Elson: Converging the Conceptual Horizons of Science and Poetry
Examining the Use of Logic in the Poetry of Veronica Forrest-Thomson and Rebecca Elson: Converging the Conceptual Horizons of Science and Poetry

Summary/Abstract: In her seminal doctoral dissertation, Poetry as Knowledge: The Use of Science by Twentieth Century Poets (1971), Veronica Forrest-Thomson posits a sophisticated framework for understanding the epistemic and affective validity of poetic language when juxtaposed with the denotative precision of scientific discourse. She contends that poetry, far from being a mere aesthetic indulgence, possesses an empirical and emotional legitimacy that warrants rigorous examination. Forrest-Thomson’s early poetic oeuvre engages deeply with Ludwig Wittgenstein’s logical propositions, probing the capacity of poetic language to encapsulate scientific truths and referents. For Forrest Thomson, poetry that grapples with scientifically observable phenomena transcends mere referentiality, emerging instead as a metalinguistic exploration of logical structures. In contrast, the Canadian astrophysicist and poet Rebecca Elson employs logical forms within her poetry to illuminate the linguistic contingency of scientific objects and events, suggesting that their properties are as much a product of discursive construction as are phenomena beyond the scientific domain. The first section examines how poetic language transforms empirical scientific observations into subjects of aesthetic inquiry. By recontextualizing scientific facts within the expressive medium of poetry, poets like Forrest-Thomson and Elson challenge the boundaries between objective referent and subjective interpretation, foregrounding the role of linguistic artistry in shaping epistemological claims. The second section explores the conceptual parallels between shifts in logical thought and the linguistic extension of scientific paradigms within the philosophy of science and investigates how poetry, by adopting logical structures, mirrors and critiques the dynamic evolution of scientific theories.

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