Literature and Moral Understanding

A Philosophical Essay on Ethics, Aesthetics, Education, and Culture

Inbunden, Engelska, 1992

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Recent philosophical discussion about the relation between fiction and reality pays little heed to our moral involvement with literature. Frank Palmer's purpose is to investigate how our appreciation of literary works calls upon and develops our capacity for moral understanding. He explores a wide range of philosophical questions about the relation of art to morality, and challenges theories which he regards as incompatible with a humane view of literary art. Dr Palmer considers, in particular, the extent to which the values and moral concepts involved in our understanding of human beings can be said to enter into our understanding of, and response to, fictional characters. The scope of his discussion encompasses literary aesthetics, ethics, and epistemology, and he makes extensive reference to literary examples.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum1992-09-10
Mått145 x 223 x 22 mm
Vikt470 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor272
FörlagClarendon Press
ISBN9780198242321

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Litteraturteori inom Skönlitteratur
Filosofiska discipliner inom Filosofi och religion
Kulturvetenskap inom Samhälle och politik

Part 1 Fictional persons and fictional worlds: fictional persons; fictional existence; possible worlds; fictional worlds. Part 2 Fiction versus fantasy, pretence and make-believe: games and language-games; make-believe as fantasy; imagination. Part 3 The moral attitudes: deeds and doers; moral attitudes as mere feelings; blame as accountancy or record-keeping; difficulties with this argument; facts and values; the human world. Part 4 Moral responses to fictional characters: Radford's argument; Weston's argument. Part 5 Readers and spectators: understanding, emotion and moral response; fictional narrator and implied reader; access to characters and the form of our attitudes; the myth of the disappearing author. Part 6 Life in art: truth in art; fictional life not continuous? - order and meaning in art. Part 7 Bad morality, bad art?: artistic and moral appraisal; agreement and acceptance; art and evil; love and the creative act; the artist nd moral responsibility; art and negativity. Part 8 Learning from literature: the problem; the cognitivist theory; telling and showing; moral understanding and an epistemology of value; morality, language and culture; ritual and celebration.