Affective Responses, Normative Requirements, and Ethical-Aesthetic Interaction |
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Authors: | Steven A. Jauss |
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Affiliation: | (1) Department of Philosophy & Liberal Studies, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock, AR 72204-1099, USA |
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Abstract: | According to what Robert Stecker dubs the “ethical-aesthetic interaction” thesis, the ethical defects of a literary work can diminish its aesthetic value. Both the thesis and the only prominent argumentative strategy employed to support it the affective response argument have been hotly debated; however, Stecker has recently argued that the failure of the ARA does not undermine the thesis, since the argument “fails to indentify the main reason [the thesis] holds, when it in fact does.” I critically examine Stecker’s objection to the familiar versions of the affective response argument and the line of support for ethical-aesthetic interaction he proposes to install in their place. I conclude that neither is compelling; however, an important insight can be salvaged from his positive proposal, and I argue that the insight does, in fact, point toward a novel defense of the thesis. |
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Keywords: | Robert Stecker Ethical criticism Ethics and literature Moralism Ethicism |
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