Machado de Assis, the Brazilian Pyrrhonian

Title Page, Copyright, List of Editors, Dedication, Epigraph

.. MACHADO DE ASSIS, THE BRAZILIAN . PYRRHONIAN . . . ~ ~ . Purdue Studies in Romance Literatures Editorial Board Enrique Caracciolo-Trejo, Floyd F. Merrell Series Editor Anthony Julian Tamburri Jeanette Beer Allen G. Wood Paul B. Dixon Luso-Brazilian Fred M. Clark Joaquim-Francisco Coelho French Jean Alter Max Aprile Paul Benhamou Willard Bohn Gerard J. Brault Gennaine Bree Victor Brombert Mary Ann Caws Gerard Defaux Ursula Franklin Floyd F. Gray Michael Issacharoff Milorad R. Margitic Glyn P. Norton Allan H. Pasco Gerald Prince David Lee Rubin English Showalter, Jr. Italian Fiora A. Bassanese Peter Carravetta Giuseppe C. Di Scipio Benjamin Lawton Associate Editors Mary L. Daniel Marta Peixoto Spanish and Spanish American Lida Aronne-Amestoy 1. B. Avalle-Arce Frank P. Casa Ivy A. Corfis James O. Crosby Frederick A. de Annas Edward Friedman David T. Gies Roberto GonzcUez Echevarria Patricia Hart David K. Herzberger Djelal Kadir Lucille Kerr Marvin A. Lewis Howard Mancing Alberto Moreiras Randolph D. Pope Geoffrey Ribbans Francisco Ruiz Ram6n Elzbieta Sklodowska Josep Miquel Sobrer Catherine Swietlicki Mario Valdes Howard Young volume 5 MACHADO DE ASSIS, THE BRAZILIAN PYRRHONIAN Jose Raimundo Maia Neto Purdue University Press West Lafayette, Indiana Copyright ©1994 by Purdue Research Foundation. Ail rights reserved. 98 97 96 95 94 5 4 321 The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Printed in the United States of America Design by Anita Noble Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Maia Neto, Jose Raimundo, 1959Machado de Assis, the Brazilian Pyrrhonian / Jose Raimundo Maia Neto p. em. - (Purdue studies in Romance literatures; v. 5) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-55753-051-3 (alk. paper) 1. Machado de Assis, 1839-1908-Philosophy. 2. Skepticism in literature. I. Title. II. Series. PQ9697.M18Z7153 1994 869.3-dc20 94-3008 CIP To my parents, Celia e Americo In Memoriam Professor Jose Raimundo Neto Un philosophe digne de ce nomn'ajamais dit qu'une seule chose: encore a-t-il plutot cherche ala dire qu'i! ne l'a dite veritablement. -Bergson ...