Full Idea
Our responses to literature should show that we grasp whatever counts as morally important within the narrative, but not necessarily that we judge and feel in the way deemed appropriate by the work.
Gist of Idea
We should understand what is morally important in a story, without having to endorse it
Source
Eileen John (Artistic Value and Opportunistic Moralism [2006], 'Accommodating')
A Reaction
She gives as an example a story by Hemingway which places a high value on the courageous hunting of big game. A second example is the total amorality of a Highsmith novel. This idea seems exactly right to me.
Book Reference
'Aesthetics and the Phil of Art (debates)', ed/tr. Kieran,Matthew [Blackwell 2004], p.338