Abstract

If fame reflects the capricious favor of the gods, there is little point in blaming the many who grant it to the few. But if fame represents a collective judgment of merit, then that judgment itself may be judged, and found wanting. Both T.S. Eliot and Elias Canetti represent fame as being, in part, the product of judgment. I argue that whereas Eliot believes that fame may be rightly distributed to those deserving of it in accordance with proper judgment, Canetti views judgment itself as a disease, which complicates considerably his attempt to conceive of a non-toxic version of fame.

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