The link between fiction and empathy as a trait of moral character

This chapter considers the empirical support for the claim that reading fiction favours the development of empathy as a trait of moral character. First, the notion of a pedagogical legend, and the epistemological criteria for assessing whether a claim about learning or development constitutes one, are introduced. Next, the different components of the hypothesized link between reading novels and empathy are articulated and the limited directly relevant research is reviewed. The chapter concludes that, despite the important limitations of this body of evidence, the research provides sufficient reason to consider that the fiction-empathy link is not a pedagogical legend.