Literature and Moral Understanding: A Philosophical Essay on Ethics, Aesthetics, Education, and Culture

by Frank Palmer

Overview

Recent philosophical discussion about the relation between fiction and reality pays little attention 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 that he regards as incompatible with a humane view of literary art. 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198242321
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/22/1992
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.75(w) x 8.84(h) x 0.88(d)
Lexile:	1470L (what's this?)

Editorial Reviews

"There is much...to commend Palmer's study, including an educationally relevant account of how literature and painting can be meaningfully viewed as sources of nonpropositional knowledge. For its rigor and integrity here and for its placement of literature and the arts in the wider contexts of moral and social life, Literature and Moral Understanding may be recommended enthusiastically."—Journal of Aesthetic Education

"[Palmer] offers a perceptive, insightful exploration of philisophical questions dealing with the relation of fiction to reality, and writes effectively and clearly about complicated matters."—International Studies in Philosophy

From the Publisher