green numbers give full details | back to texts | unexpand this idea
| 23898 | Those who say immorality is not an aesthetic criterion must show that all criteria are aesthetic |
| Full Idea: Writers and readers who cry out that immorality is not an aesthetic criterion need to prove, which they have never done, that one should apply only aesthetic criteria to literature. | |||
| From: Simone Weil (Literature and Morals [1941], p.146) | |||
| A reaction: I take the first criterion of literature that it not be boring, and I don't think that is an aesthetic matter. A lot must be achieved before a work can even be considered for aesthetic judgment. Being deeply offensive might rule it out. |