ETHICS AND FICTION Moral Philosophy and the Role for Literature T-04,v David"Moltow, BA (Hons) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Tasmania February, 2006 Candidate's Declaration I declare that this thesis contains no material that has been accepted for a degree or diploma by the University or any other institution, except by way of background information and duly acknowledged in the thesis. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due acknowledgement is made in the text of the thesis, nor does the thesis contain any material that infringes copyright. Signed: itrA Date: 7 • (t• 29 • Authority of Access This thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying in accordance with Copyright Act 1968. Signed: Date: )- Qt • 2.9,31 11 ABSTRACT Can imaginative literature make a substantive contribution to ethical reflection? If so, what is the nature of this contribution and what is its value? What role can literature play in moral enquiry? Can literature help moral philosophy to shed light on moral questions? Can literature furnish moral knowledge that is unaccounted for, or unaccountable, in the traditional methods of philosophical reflection? In addressing these questions, my aim in this thesis is to construct a comprehensive and critical account of the contribution to ethics that imaginative literature (particularly in the form of the novel) can make within and alongside traditional moral philosophy. First, I consider the character of moral philosophy, conceived as a normative enterprise, and review some systemic limitations of normative ethics. I then examine the arguments of some prominent philosophers concerning literature's role in helping to identify and address these issues. Second, in examining the aspects of literature which render it valuable to ethical reflection, I consider the formal distinctions between literature and traditional moral philosophy, and investigate the unique role of literary devices. The arguments here provide the foundation for my proposition that the value of the connection between philosophy and literature depends crucially on the distinction between them. The third chapter deals with literature's ability to illustrate, challenge and test a moral perspective, and so help to reveal and illuminate features of the ethical life that cannot be apprehended via traditional philosophical reflection alone. To illustrate this expansion of the philosophical method, I consider aspects of Kantian ethics and utilitarianism in light of a select number of literary works. I argue that sympathy is crucial to the realisation of genuine ethical ends. The argument is that seeing the world through the eyes of others enables one not only to understand their motives and actions, and to consider one's own responses to similar circumstances, but that, in doing so, one can uncover the extent to which a moral stance comports with one's own ethical convictions, how that stance can accommodate these convictions, or how these convictions need modifying in light of that stance. Because fiction both exercises and confers a number of important freedoms, fictional literature is an ideal tool for the exploration of ethical concepts. Moreover, as the apotheosis of extended, connected fictional narratives, it is further argued that the novel is the ideal literary mode for this exploration. However, if literature is such a valuable supplement to philosophical reflection, why can we not treat literature itself as a form of moral philosophy? As an adjunct to philosophical reflection, literature can enhance our moral understanding in a manner that does justice to us as complex beings in complex conditions, and in a way that traditional philosophical reflection alone cannot. Literature has the power not only to move us, but to help us shape our lives and make reality out of ethical reflections. However, as literature's ability to make this contribution is a consequential feature of its form, there is sufficient reason not to treat literature as moral philosophy, which requires its own very different approach. I conclude by arguing that cooperation between literature and moral philosophy can enhance moral understanding to an extent unachievable via either form of discourse alone, and that this enhancement flows directly from the distinction between the two. iv Acknowledgements In addition to the clear debt of gratitude I owe my supervisors in the School of Philosophy, Dr Marcelo Stamm and Dr David Coady, I must acknowledge the support and encouragement of many people who have helped me in many ways to develop the arguments contained in this thesis. Among those to whom I am particularly indebted are Robert Cox, Leanne Jacques, Hannah Jenkins, Prof. Jeff Malpas, Juliane Moltow, Miranda Morris, Dr John Norris, Joel Stafford, Dr Julia Watkin and Bruce Wilson, as well as the School of Philosophy at the University of Tasmania and its postgraduate and administrative community. Special mention must be made of Dr Edgar Sleinis, whose patient guidance, close reading, and acute yet encouraging criticism of the many drafts of my thesis proved crucial to its success (and served to reveal the illusory nature of his retirement from the Academy). It is no exaggeration to predicate my project's outcome on his support. Edgar's friendship, to say nothing of his mentorship, is an enduring source of inspiration, admiration and comfort. It must also be mentioned that this project was made possible with the financial support of an Australian Postgraduate Award and consistent work as a tutor in Philosophy during four wonderful years at the University's Sandy Bay campus. For any errors and omissions, however, I do claim full ownership. TABLE OF CONTENTS Ethics and the Role for Literature 2 An Apparent Dichotomy 3 Four Possible Connections 5 The Argument 11 The Moral Philosophy Enterprise 16 The Entry Point for Ethical Reflection 19 The Form and Content Connection 32 Targeting the Issues 32 Philosophical and Literary Discourse 36 A Vital Role for Literature 46 Language and Perspective in Philosophy and Literature 50 The Role of Plot 70 • The Expansion of Methods 86 Kant and a Passage from Conrad 87 Utilitarianism and a Passage from Conrad 108 Utilitarianism and a Dostoyevskian Dilemma 113 Instructive Reminders 125 The Exemplification and Range of Moral Concepts 130 The Scope of Fiction and the Ascendancy of the Novel 140 The Utility of Fact and the Utility of Fiction 140 Reality and the Free Scope of Fiction 155 Historical Facts and the Freedom of Fiction 163 The Role of Schematic Thought Experiments 168 The Novel's Ascendancy in Morally Relevant Exemplification 177 Can Literature be Philosophy? 188 The Four Possibilities 189 The First Proposition: Moral Philosophy as Literature 190 The Third Proposition: Moral Philosophy Feeds Literature 212 The Fourth Proposition: Literature feeds Moral Philosophy 224 The Second Proposition: Literature as Philosophy 229 Bibliography 243 1 ETHICS AND THE ROLE FOR LITERATURE Morality is a subject which interests us above all others: We fancy the peace of society to be at stake in every decision concerning it; and 'tis evident, that this concern must make our speculations appear more real and solid, than where the subject is, in a great measure, indifferent to us. David Humel Can imaginative literature make a substantive contribution to ethical reflection? If so, what is the nature of this contribution and what is its value? What role can literature play in moral enquiry? Can literature help moral philosophy to shed light on moral questions? Can literature furnish moral knowledge that is unaccounted for, or unaccountable, in the traditional methods of philosophical reflection? 2 In addressing these questions, my aim is to construct a comprehensive and critical account of the contribution to morality that imaginative literature (particularly in the form of the novel) can make within and alongside moral philosophy. In this thesis I argue not only that literature can furnish a valuable supplement to ethical thought, but that it can also contribute autonomously David Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature, L. A. Selby-Bigge (Ed.), (Oxford: 1965), p. 456 2 to our individual understanding of the ethical life. I further argue that attention to the connections between the two enterprises promises fruitful outcomes, namely, a deeper understanding and richer conception of morality than can be achieved by philosophical reflection alone. At the crux of my case I argue that the value of this relation depends on the distinction between the two enterprises, and that the contribution that literature, particularly the novel, offers to moral philosophy is a consequential feature of its form. An Apparent Dichotomy In an essay on morality and the novel, D. H. Lawrence wrote, 'The business of art is to reveal the relation between man and his circumambient universe, at the living moment.' 3 Compare Lawrence's evaluation of the descriptive role of literature with the essentially prescriptive function that Socrates assigns to moral philosophy in Plato's Republic: 'We are discussing no small matter, but how we ought to live.' 4 The respective roles assigned to literature and moral philosophy by Lawrence and Socrates imply a dichotomy between two divergent enterprises. At one end of the cognitive spectrum, there is imaginative literature, with its descriptive, contextual role of indirectly mirroring the personal, social and historical milieu from which a narrative emerges and in which its characters and their actions and attitudes exist - albeit in a fictional sense. At the other end, there is moral philosophy, including normative ethics, with its traditional aim of seeking rational justification for general and abstract moral principles to guide the conduct of human beings in relation to one another and to all else that shares their life world. While the descriptive process of literature reveals how an agent does, or might, relate to his or her life world, the normative function of moral philosophy prescribes how he or she ought to relate to it.