Single Idea 22707

[catalogued under 21. Aesthetics / C. Artistic Issues / 7. Art and Morality]

Full Idea

The positive moral stance of a story can be an artistic defect where it shapes the story in an inappropriate fashion. If it displays disproportionate moral outrage, …it reveals a lack of toleration, compassion, or insight into its subject-matter.

Gist of Idea

It is an artistic defect if excessive moral outrage distorts the story, and narrows our sympathies

Source

Stephen Davies (The Philosophy of Art (2nd ed) [2016], 8.7)

Book Reference

Davies,Stephen: 'The Philosophy of Art (2nd ed)' [Wiley Blackwell 2016], p.218


A Reaction

There could be narrative irony in a story told by an angry and puritanical person, which continually condemns wickedness, with the reader expected to have a more tolerant attitude. Hard to think of any examples of this problem.