Ethics Literature And Theory

Foreword
Wayne C. Booth
Preface
Stephen K. George
Ethical Criticism And Literary Theory

Premises On Art And Morality
John Gardner
The Moral Connections Of Literary Texts
Abraham B. Yehoshua
Why Ethical Criticism Can Never Be Simple
Wayne C. Booth
Ethical Criticism: What It Is And Why It Matters
Marshall Gregory
Against Ethical Criticism
Richard A. Posner
Who Is Responsible In Ethical Criticism?
Wayne C. Booth
The Absence Of The Ethical: Literary Theory And Ethical Theory
Martha C. Nussbaum
Evaluative Discourse: A New Turn Towards The Ethical
David Parker
The Moral And The Aesthetical: Literary Study And The Social Order
Stephen L. Tanner
Philosophy Religion, And Literature

Reading For Life
Anthony Cunningham
The “Ancient Quarrel”: Literature And Moral Philosophy
Martha C. Nussbaum
Stories And Morals
Nina Rosenstand
The Absence Of Stories: Filling The Void In Ethics
Marianne Jennings
Literature And The Catholic Perspective
Mary R. Reichardt
Literature And Protestantism
John J. Han
Something To Measure By: Quaker Values In Literature
Barbara A. Heavilin
Literary Criticism And Religious Values
Bruce Young
Writers’ Responsibilities

A Writer’s Duty
John Updike
The Writer’s Moral Sense
Flannery O’Connor
Imaginative Writing And The Jewish Experience
Bernard Malamud
The Problem Of Evil In Fiction
Orson Scott Card
Poetry, Politics, And Morality
Jay Parini
Art And Ethics?
Joyce Carol Oates
What Violence In Literature Must Teach Us
Jack Harrell
Ethics And Literature
Charles Johnson
Readers And Ethical Criticism

The Case Against Huck Finn
John H. Wallace
Why We Still Need Huckleberry Finn
Dudley Barlow
Huckleberry Finn: An Amazing Troubling Book
Toni Morrison
The Ethical Dimensions Of Richard Wright’s Native Son
Stephen K. George
Sethe’s Choice: Beloved And The Ethics Of Reading
James Phelan
Steinbeck, Johnson, And The Master/Slave Relationship
Richard E. Hart
Censorship And The Classroom
Georgia A. Newman

Additional Info
Ethics, Literature, and Theory: An Introductory Reader brings together the work of contemporary scholars, teachers, and writers into lively discussion on the moral role of literature and the relationship between aesthetics, art, and ethics.

Do the rich descriptions and narrative shapings of literature provide a valuable resource for readers, writers, philosophers, and everyday people to imagine and confront the ultimate questions of life? Do the human activities of storytelling and complex moral decision-making have a deep connection? What are the moral responsibilities of the artist, critic, and reader? What can religious perspectives-from Catholic to Protestant to Mormon-contribute to literary criticism? What do we mean when we talk about ethical criticism and how does this differ from the common notion of censorship?

Thirty well known contributors reflect on these questions including: literary theorists Marshall Gregory, James Phelan, and Wayne Booth; philosophers Martha Nussbaum, Richard Hart, and Nina Rosenstand; and authors John Updike, Charles Johnson, Flannery O’Connor, and Bernard Malamud. Divided into four sections, with introductory matter and questions for discussion, this accessible anthology represents the most crucial work today exploring the interdisciplinary connections among literature, religion and philosophy.