Table Of ContentOUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,5/1/2016,SPi
Fictional Characters, Real Problems
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,5/1/2016,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,5/1/2016,SPi
Fictional Characters,
Real Problems
The Search for Ethical Content
in Literature
EDITED BY
Garry L. Hagberg
1
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,5/1/2016,SPi
3
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OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,5/1/2016,SPi
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
NotesontheContributors ix
Introduction:FiveEthicalAspectsofLiterature 1
GarryL.Hagberg
Part I. Ways of Reading for Ethical Content
1. Sophie,Antigone,Elizabeth—RethinkingEthicsbyReading
Literature 15
NoraHämäläinen
2. CaringaboutCharacters 31
EileenJohn
3. HamletandtheProblemofMoralAgency 47
RobertB.Pierce
Part II. Matters of Character
4. Othello’sParadox:ThePlaceofCharacterinLiteraryExperience 59
GarryL.Hagberg
5. Character,SocialInformation,andtheChallengeofPsychology 83
NoëlCarroll
6. Emma’sExtravagance:JaneAustenandtheCharacter–Situation
Debate 102
ValerieWainwright
Part III. Literature, Subjectivity, and Poetic Vision
7. TheQuestionofTruthinLiterature:DiepoetischeAuffassung
derWelt 119
RichardEldridge
8. TheMoralRelevanceofLiteratureandtheLimitsofArgument:
LessonsfromHeidegger,Aristotle,andCoetzee 139
J.JeremyWisnewski
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,5/1/2016,SPi
vi TABLEOF CONTENTS
9. AnEndlessPerson:Heidegger,Breton,andNadjaattheLimits
ofLanguage 153
JonathanStrauss
Part IV. Language, Dialogical Identity, and
Self-Understanding
10. TheDialogicSelfinHamlet:OnHowDramaticFormTransforms
PhilosophicalInquiry 175
AnthonyGash
11. “ThePowerofConversation”:JaneAusten’sPersuasion
andHans-GeorgGadamer’sPhilosophicalHermeneutics 194
RichardDawson
12. Quartet:Wallace’sWittgenstein,Moran’sAmis 209
StephenMulhall
Part V. Patterns and Possibilities of Moral Growth
13. MoralDevelopmentinPrideandPrejudice 237
AlanH.Goldman
14. TheBreadthofMoralCharacter 254
DanielBrudney
15. LearningToBeGood(orBad)in(orThrough)Literature 282
MitchellS.Green
Part VI. Historical Genealogies of Moral-Aesthetic Concepts
16. InPraiseofAristotle’sPoetics 305
HumbertoBrito
17. ShaftesburyasVirtuoso:Or,theBirthofAesthetics
OutofaSpiritofCivility 325
MartinDonougho
18. Fate,Philology,Freud 340
JulesBrody
Bibliography 367
Index 383
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,5/1/2016,SPi
Acknowledgments
Althoughitwouldbealmostimpossiblenowtorecountfully,inthespanoftime
stretching from the initial idea of this project through to its publication, I have
hadmanystimulatingconversationsandexchangeswiththecontributors.With-
outthesehelpfulinteractionsthiscollectionwouldnotbewhatitisandcouldnot
have evolved and matured as it has. I am also grateful to the two anonymous
readers(oneofwhomturnedouttobetheinsightfulJohnGibson)whoquickly
sawthepointofavolumeofthiswidelyexploratoryandyetcloselyinvestigative
kind;theirsupportanddiscerningadvicewerecrucialtoitsdevelopment.Special
thanks to Dale Jacquette, who, in an earlier exchange on matters related to the
topicsofthisvolume,usedthephrase“fictionalcharactersandtheirrealethical
problems”;Iknewimmediatelythathehadsuccinctlycapturedthefundamental
themeofthisvolumeandthatIwouldwanttoputthesewordstoworkinthetitle
ofthisundertaking.
Peter Momtchiloff and Eleanor Collins of Oxford University Press have
provided this project with the kind of sustained and comprehending support
thatanyauthororeditorfeelssoveryfortunatetoreceive.Weallremaingrateful
for the meticulous copyediting of Sarah Cheeseman, and the OUP production
department has shown once again why they have the reputation that they do.
ThanksalsotoPenguinRandomHouseforpermissiontousethelinefromJ.M.
CoetzeeastheepigraphinChapter1,andfortheepigraphsinChapter14thanks
to the Tanner Lectures for permission to use the line from Barbara Herman
(originallydeliveredaspartoftheTannerLecturesonHumanValuesatStanford
University)andtoGale,apartofCengageLearningInc.forpermissiontousethe
linefromAlistairDuckworth.
I offer my heartfelt thanks to everyone involved for the privilege to play the
roleofconductorinthiscooperative,spirited,andcreativeensemble.
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,5/1/2016,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,5/1/2016,SPi
Notes on the Contributors
HUMBERTOBRITOisanFCTPost-doctoralFellowoftheInstituteforthePhiloso-
phyof LanguageattheUniversidadeNovadeLisboa,andassistantprofessorof
LiteraryStudiesatthesameuniversity.Inrecentyearshewasavisitingprofessor
at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Stanford University, and the University of
Chicago.HedirectsthePhilosophyandLiteratureNetwork,ajointventureofthe
InstituteforthePhilosophyofLanguageandtheProgramin LiteraryTheoryat
Universidade de Lisboa. His interests include Aristotle’s Poetics, philosophy of
actionandphilosophyofart,andissuesofethicsthatariseinliteraryworksand
inliterarytheory.
JULES BRODY, at the time of his retirement in 1988, was Professor of French and
Chair of the Department of Romance Languages at Harvard University. He has
heldvisitingprofessorshipsattheSorbonne,ParisVII,Stanford,theUniversityof
Illinois,andtheUniversityofMontreal.Amonghisscholarlyinterestsandfields
ofpublicationareGreektragedy,MicheldeMontaigne,theDucdeSaint-Simon,
JeanGiraudoux,AlbertCamus,psychoanalyticapproachestoliterature,andthe
majorwritersoftheFrenchclassicalperiod.
DANIELBRUDNEYisProfessorofPhilosophyattheUniversityofChicago,andison
thefacultyoftheMacLeanCenterforClinicalMedicalEthicsattheUniversityof
ChicagoHospitals.Hewritesandteachesinpoliticalphilosophy,philosophyand
literature,andbioethics.HeistheauthorofMarx’sAttempttoLeavePhilosophy
(1998). His recent publications include “Two Differences Between Law and
Literature,” in Martha Nussbaum and Richard Strier, eds, Shakespeare and the
Law (University of Chicago Press, 2013); “Nineteenth Century Ideals: Self-
Culture and the Religion of Humanity,” in Allen W. Wood and Songsuk Susan
Hahn, eds, The Cambridge History of 19th Century Philosophy (2012); “Produ-
cing for Others,” in C. Zurn and H. Schmidt am Busch, eds, The Philosophy of
Recognition:HistoricalandContemporaryPerspectives(2010),and“StylesofSelf-
Absorption,” in G. Hagberg and W. Jost, eds, The Blackwell Companion to
Philosophy of Literature (2010). He is Associate Editor of Theoretical Medicine
andBioethics.
NOËL CARROLL is a Distinguished Professor in the Philosophy Program at the
GraduateCenteroftheCityUniversityofNewYork.Heisapastpresidentofthe
