Intro to Ethics of Literature

Professor Kozlowski begins our discussion of the ethics of literature with a simple question: Is Speaking Ethical?  The answer may be simple, but the implementation, and the study of how a work of literature can affect us - for something as simple as its entertainment value, for something as abstract as its beauty, or for something as profound as the imposition of a new ideological perspective - is endlessly complicated.  Yet many thinkers have weighed in on these complicated effects, and even gone so far as to suggest that some works are upright and morally-nourishing, while others are dangerous, or even outright pernicious.  In this introductory lecture, we'll set the rules for our discussion of these ideas: what we will and will not talk about, what works we'll use to guide our understanding of fiction's ethical ramifications, and what knowledge we'll assume going into this discussion.  It'll be messy, but undoubtedly fascinating.

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