Art and Morality (I)
Art and Morality (I)
Ethics and aesthetics may not be one, but the historical association of their ascendants, morality and art, is an intimate and long-standing one. Like most long associations, theirs has featured a certain ambivalence, and has been marked as much by episodes of hostility and misunderstanding as by mutual support. This chapter looks at one dimension of this relationship, namely, the way in which literary art influences moral experience, and thereby informs moral judgement. It argues that the so-called ‘ethical criticism’ of art need not be motivated by an a priori commitment to the ‘supremacy of moral values’; its validity and interest need not rest solely on an unquestioned subordination of the aesthetic to the ethical. Engagement with literary art can influence one's moral experience and thereby inform his/her moral judgements. This chapter also discusses the views of Leo Tolstoy and Plato regarding art and morality.
Keywords: literary art, morality, ethics, aesthetics, moral judgement, moral experience, Leo Tolstoy, Plato, moral values
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
