Ethics and Literature Introduction 伦理学与文学导论.pdfVIP

Philosophia (2007) 35:111– 116 DOI 10.1007/s11406-007-9068-6 SERIES: ETHICS AND LITERATURE Ethics and Literature: Introduction Adia Mendelson-Maoz Received: 14 May 2007 / Accepted: 15 May 2007 / Published online: 20 July 2007 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2007 Without storytelling there is no theory of ethics (Miller 1987; 3). Art and philosophy, aesthetics and ethics, have exhibited strong ties throughout human history. In particular, the dual commitment of literature to aesthetic principles and narrative themes and the dual commitment of ethics to abstract models and to human experience have created multifaceted bonds between the two disciplines. Literature can illustrate philosophical ideas and illuminate actual moral life, it can “supply the kind of experience needed to develop a person ’s faculty of moral judgment” (DePaul 1988; 563), and by animating the actual performance of certain ethical issues can “bridge the gap between abstract ethical principles and the concrete circumstances of real cases” (Tomlinson 1997; 126). Philosophy can explore moral concepts and examine moral theories through literary texts. Often, literary texts put complex situations under a new light, and hence create an opportunity for thought experiments (Currie 1998; 176) and ethical expeditions (McGinn 1997; 177). Literature can serve as a moral laboratory (Hakermulder 2000), a secure and imaginary space where one can question beliefs and practices, gain back lost concepts (Diamond 1983, 1988), test theories and their applications, simulate different scenarios and stances, and formulate desirable principles.1 In 2006, Philosophia published a Call for Papers on Ethics and Literature. As the field is very rich, we received numerous submitted papers, dealing with many different topics and texts. It has therefore been decided to launch a series o