Why Literature Matters in the 21st Century
Mark Roche
Abstract
This book examines literature in its connection to virtue and moral excellence. The author is concerned with literature as the teacher of virtue. The current crisis in the humanities may be traced back to the separation of art and morality. The arts and humanities concern themselves with the fate and prospects of humankind. Today that fate and those prospects are under the increasing influence of technology. In a technological age, literature gains in importance precisely to the extent that our sense of intrinsic value is lost. In its elevation of play and inexhaustible meaning, literature off ... More
This book examines literature in its connection to virtue and moral excellence. The author is concerned with literature as the teacher of virtue. The current crisis in the humanities may be traced back to the separation of art and morality. The arts and humanities concern themselves with the fate and prospects of humankind. Today that fate and those prospects are under the increasing influence of technology. In a technological age, literature gains in importance precisely to the extent that our sense of intrinsic value is lost. In its elevation of play and inexhaustible meaning, literature offers a counterbalance to reason and efficiency. It helps us grasp the ways in which diverse parts form a comprehensive and complex whole, and it connects us with other ages and cultures. Not least, great literature grapples with the ethical challenges of the day.
Keywords:
literature,
virtue,
moral excellence,
technology,
intrinsic value,
reason,
efficiency,
fate,
humankind
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2004 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780300104493 |
| Published to Yale Scholarship Online: October 2013 |
DOI:10.12987/yale/9780300104493.001.0001 |
