''On Moral Fiction'' is a collection of essays by the American novelist
John Gardner published in 1978. ()
In this work, Gardner attacks what he sees as contemporary literature's lack of
morality
Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of co ...
, which he calls the highest purpose of art and which he defines in the book. According to Gardner, morality is not an arbitrary
social construct
Social constructionism is a theory in sociology, social ontology, and communication theory which proposes that certain ideas about physical reality arise from collaborative consensus, instead of pure observation of said reality. The theory ...
, but an eternal truth, taking on different forms but not essentially changing through the ages. He says that moral fiction "attempts to test human values, not for the purpose of preaching or peddling a particular ideology, but in a truly honest and open-minded effort to find out which best promotes human fulfillment."
Leo Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...
, among others, espouses similar views in his essay ''
What is Art?
''What Is Art?'' (russian: Что такое искусство? ''Chto takoye iskusstvo?'') is a book by Leo Tolstoy. It was completed in Russian in 1897 but first published in English due to difficulties with the Russian censors.
Tolstoy cites ...
'', and Gardner draws upon Tolstoy in his argument.
See also
*
Moral realism
Bibliography
*
1978 essays
American non-fiction books
Essays by John Gardner (American writer)
Essays in literary criticism
Ethics literature
Works about postmodernism
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