Moral & Philosophical Criticism

EH 4301

Moral Criticism

“The best poetry has a power of forming, sustaining, and delighting us, as nothing else can. … More and more mankind will discover that we have to turn to poetry to interpret life for us, to console us, to sustain us. Without poetry, our science will appear incomplete; and most of what now passes with us for religion and philosophy will be replaced by poetry.”

- Matthew Arnold, “The Study of Poetry”

Literature

An important source of moral guidance and spiritual inspiration

A worthy substitute for religionextreme position in harmony with critical tradition

Moral Criticism

Moral approach has the longest history. The importance of literature

not just its way of saying but also what it says

Moral Criticism

Critics who concentrate on the moral dimensions of literature often judge literary works by their ethical teachings

and by their effects on readers Literature that is ethically sound and encourages

virtue is praised. Literature that misguides and corrupts is

condemned.

Moral Criticism

Some modern critical theories may make us resist the idea that literature has a didactic purpose.but cannot deny many of the greatest writers

have considered themselves teachers as well as artists.

Moral Criticism

Plato acknowledged literature’s power as a teacher

by believing it capable of corrupting morals and undermining religion

Moralism Utilitarianism

Moral Criticism

Aristotle and Horace considered literature capable of fostering

virtueHorace

Literature should be “delightful and instructive”

Moral Criticism

Attempts to extract literature from an ethical context are misguided and ultimately unsuccessful. Faults New Criticism

Moral Criticism

However, there are other critics/critical fields which promote a moral fervor in their writings: Feminist criticismMarxist criticism