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

Frank Palmer

Oxford University Press on Demand, 1992 - Political Science - 259 pages

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.

About the author

Frank Palmer is a freelance writer

Bibliographic information

• Title: Literature and Moral Understanding: A Philosophical Essay on Ethics, Aesthetics, Education and Culture
• Author: Frank Palmer
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand, 1992
• ISBN: 0198242328, 9780198242321
• Length: 259 pages
• Subjects: Literary Criticism / Semiotics & Theory; Philosophy / Aesthetics; Philosophy / Ethics & Moral Philosophy; Political Science / Civil Rights