This paper examines the relation between philosophy and literature through an analysis of claims made by Martha Nussbaum regarding the contribution novels can make to moral philosophy. Perhaps her most controversial assertion is that some novels are themselves works of moral philosophy. I contrast Nussbaum’s view with that of Iris Murdoch. I discuss three claims which are fundamental to Nussbaum’s position: the relation between writing style and content; philosophy’s inadequacy in preparing agents for moral life because of its reliance on rules; and the usefulness of the moral work engaged in by readers of novels. The evaluation of these claims requires a discussion of the nature of philosophy. I find that Murdoch and Nussbaum agree on the ability of literature to contribute to moral understanding, but disagree on the issue of what philosophy is. Therefore, they disagree on the question of whether certain works of fiction are also works of philosophy. I argue that the task Nussbaum assigns philosophy is too broad. Through the use of critical and reflective methods, philosophy should examine and sort moral claims. Literary, philosophical and religious texts contribute to moral eduction; keeping them separate helps us appreciate their distinct contributions, as well as respect their distinct aims and methods. Therefore, I conclude that Nussbaum’s inclusion of certain novels in philosophy cannot be sustained.
In a recent article, Richard Posner examines the notion, advanced by scholars in the law and literature movement, that "...immersion in literature ... make[s] us better citizens or better people." (1) The focus of his discussion is a set of assertions, including a number made by Martha Nussbaum, concerning the moral influenc...
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...h draws the following distinctions: literature does many things, philosophy does one thing (has one aim); literature is natural, philosophy is counter-natural; literature arouses emotion, philosophy tries to eliminate emotional appeal; literature is indirect, philosophy is direct; literature has no problem to solve, philosophy seeks to solve a few technical and abstract problems; literature is concerned with aesthetic form, philosophy does not aim at formal perfection. Murdoch says that she sees "no 'general role' of philosophy in literature" (p. 242).
(15) See Frank Palmer, Literature and Moral Understanding (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992), chapter 8.
(16) In considering what is characteristic of philosophy, I was helped by reading Derrida and Wittgenstein, by Newton Garver and Seung-Chong Lee, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1994), chapter 6.
As stated in the book, “college students have much to teach about sex” (8). That is because the values, ideologies, and worldviews of the students are representative of greater American culture. Although flawed, hookup culture on American campuses hold the possibility of accepting a culture of inclusivity, care, pleasure, and freedom while also rejecting predatory behavior, racism, classism, and abuse. Dismissing hookup culture all together is blind to the reality that young adults are going to have sex, and since sex is non-negotiable, one’s aim should be to foster open dialogue and critical thought onto a future where everyone enjoys the ability to freely explore sexuality, sex, and gender on their own
In both books, there are examples of girls who come from white families below the poverty line. Mayella Ewell from To Kill A Mockingbird lives in the dirty, rural part of Maycomb county with her crude siblings and abusive father. Everyone who lives there knows that “Maycomb's Ewells lived behind the town garbage dump.“ (227). They’re too poverty-stricken to live in a respectable community or even somewhere clean. It’s nearly the same way where Celia Foote comes from. By far, Celia comes from the poorest background out of all the characters in The Help. When Aibileen finds out from Celia that she grew up in a poor, Mississippi town called Sugar Ditch, she comments on how “Sugar ditch is as low as you can go in Mississippi, maybe in the whole United States...even the white kids looked like they hadn’t had a meal for a week.” (39). Her statement on how the white children even looked hungry, implies that the black people living in Mississippi aren’t prosperous, but growing up in a town like Sugar Ditch a...
An asthma attack has many effects on the body. Asthma affects the body by limiting the flow of air into the lungs. It causes airway inflammation, bronchial restriction and irregular airway obstruction. Airway inflammation is how the body reacts to something that is irritating the airways. When happening your lungs begin swelling, your breathing passageway becomes restricted and mucus is secreted. Bronchial restriction happens when the muscles in your airways tighten around the breathing tubes in your lungs. (Bronchial tubes). Mucus or fluid that is accumulated by the reaction can obstruct your airway and make it very difficult to breathe properly.
Francine Prose is a mother, a writer, a book reviewer, and most importantly, a massive critic of the type of literature that is demanded of children to read in American high schools. In a very defensive essay, Prose discusses a variety of books that she believes are a wast of actual literature. She uses a variety of rhetoric to attract the reader’s attention, and uses it to also persuade her readers to see things the way she does. Throughout the essay it becomes more apparent that the author makes multiple inferences of what she believes will happen to the generations that will entire a corrupt educational system. In the essay that Prose writes, she explains that the lack of eloquent literature is causing a demise to the education of teenagers
In this day and age we spend an extensive amount of time engrossed in literary works, films, television shows and other forms of fiction. Some see this in a positive light, contending that fictitious stories cultivate our mental and moral development. Others however have argued that fiction is mentally and ethically obstructive. Posing the age old question: Does fiction build the morality of individuals and societies, or does it break it down?
Literature is a mirror of life. In order to reflect their views on the problems in society, many authors of fiction, including Sir Thomas More of Utopia and George Orwell of Nineteen Eighty-Four, use parallels in character, setting, government, and society to link their works to the real world.
Can you imagine a world where literature did not exist? It’s very hard, nearly impossible. Literature plays a major role in shaping society. Literature is a word used to describe written or spoken material. Literature educates, informs, entertains and influences the reader or listener in a myriad of profound ways. Broadly speaking, “literature” is used to describe anything from creative writing to more technical or scientific works, but the term is most commonly used to refer to works of the creative imagination. Writers can change one’s beliefs, thoughts, actions, indeed their entire lives. In Northrop Frye’s The Educated Imagination, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird and Plato’s The Republic, the writers use literature to utter the importance literature bestows on society. The three writers state their opinions using different methods to prove to the readers that their opinions are valid. Since each author has a unique writing style, most envision their writing with a relatable figure. Some would argue that Frye’s writing style is much like that of a textbook, very instructional and factual, Lamott reminded them of a conversation with a friend and that Plato’s writing style is very informative, akin to a professor carrying on a dialogue with an inquisitive student.
As a college student, I see hookup culture everywhere I look on campus. That isn’t to say we have an unfaithful campus whose afraid of commitment, but it is nonetheless something we should be aware of. I do not have a solution to fixing hookup culture, nor does anyone else for that matter. It is something that has increased dramatically ever since contraception came about, and unless we put the condom and pill companies out of business I don’t see it going away.
In relation to contemporary cultural aesthetic, the postmodern adopts two modes: mainstream mode and oppositional mode (Hayward 302). In Amelie, a mainstream approach is taken through the mannerisms and stylization of the film, through pastiche. Amelie resembles a mainstream use of pastiche and bricolage, which can be seen through the assemblage and mixtures of the different styles and genres. The assemblage of different genres is a common characteristic that is found in many postmodern films. We get a blurred line of genres ...
Roberts, Edgar V., Jacobs, Henry E. “Literature.” The Lesson. 470-475. Toni Cade Bambara. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. 2001
-Shortness of breath=described as tightness of the chest. Some people have trouble breathing during exercise, others experience it after inhaling smoke, while others need to ingest a particular food-regardless of the circumstance, all people with asthma have trouble breathing.
Whenever we try to imagine the feelings or motives of a writer, we impose our own thoughts and ideas, our own biases, onto that person and their work. Perhaps in order to justify our choices or legitimate the philosophies that we hold dear, we interpret texts so that they fall into place in our own ideological frameworks. Literature, because it engages with the most important and passionate questions in life, evokes responses in readers that emanate not only from the mind but also from the subconscious and from the deepest places in the heart. Writers like Virginia Woolf ask, and sometimes answer, questions about life's meaning, about the nature and importance of relationships, about spirituality, work, family, identity and so on. It is what makes writing fascinating and the critiquing of writing something more than an intellectual exercise.
Burke, Kenneth. "Literature as Equipment for Living." The Critical Tradition (1998): n. pag. Web. 7 May 2014. .
Lawrence, D.H. ‘Morality and the Novel’, Tweenth Century Literature Criticism, Ed. David Lodge, London: Longman, 1972.
Paul, E. L., & Hayes, K. A. (2002). The casualties of “casual” sex: A qualitative exploration of the phenomenology of college students’ hookups. Journal of personal and Social Relationships, 19, 639-661.