ABSTRACT

A team of leading contributors from both philosophical and literary backgrounds have been brought together in this impressive book to examine how works of literary fiction can be a source of knowledge. Together, they analyze the important trends in this current popular debate.

The innovative feature of this volume is that it mixes work by literary theorists and scholars with work of analytic philosophers that combined together provide a comprehensive statement of the variety of ways in which works of fiction can engage questions of worldly interest. It uses the problem of cognitive value to explore:

  • literature’s contribution to ethical life
  • literature’s ability to engage in social and political critique
  • the role narrative plays in opening up possibilities of moral, aesthetic, experience and selfhood

This remarkable volume will attract the attention of both literature and philosophy scholars with its statement of the various ways that literature and life take an interest in one another.

part |1 pages

PART II Narrating worlds and selves

part |1 pages

PART IV Imagination, objectivity, and culture

chapter 19|4 pages

Legends and myths: Kendall L. Walton

chapter 20|15 pages

Literature and make-believe: Joseph Margolis

chapter 21|10 pages

Art and the view from nowhere: Alex Burri

chapter 22|14 pages

Culture: A recursive process: Wolfgang Iser