1. Moral & Philosophical Criticism
EH 4301

2. Moral Criticism
“The best poetry has a power of forming, sustaining, and delighting us, as nothing else can. … More and more mankind will discover that we have to turn to poetry to interpret life for us, to console us, to sustain us. Without poetry, our science will appear incomplete; and most of what now passes with us for religion and philosophy will be replaced by poetry.”
- Matthew Arnold, “The Study of Poetry”

3. Literature
An important source of moral guidance and spiritual inspiration
A worthy substitute for religion
extreme position
in harmony with critical tradition
For Arnold, literature is a supremely important source of moral guidance and spiritual inspiration. In seeing literature as a worthy substitute for religion, he takes an extreme position. His insistence on the moral and religious significance of literature, however, is very much in harmony with critical tradition.

4. Moral Criticism Moral approach has the longest history.
The importance of literature
not just its way of saying
but also what it says
The importance of literature is not merely in its way of saying, but also in what it says.

5. Moral Criticism
Critics who concentrate on the moral dimensions of literature often
judge literary works by their ethical teachings and by their effects on readers
Literature that is ethically sound and encourages virtue is praised.
Literature that misguides and corrupts is condemned.
Critics who concentrate on the moral dimensions of literature often judge literary works by their ethical teachings and by their effects on readers: literature that is ethically sound and encourages virtue is praised, and literature that misguides and corrupts is condemned.

6. Moral Criticism
Some modern critical theories may make us resist the idea that literature has a didactic purpose.
but cannot deny many of the greatest writers have considered themselves teachers as well as artists.
Although some modern critical theories may make us resist the idea that literature has a didactic purpose, we cannot deny that many (or most) of the greatest writers have considered themselves teachers as well as artists.

7. Moral Criticism
Plato
acknowledged literature’s power as a teacher by believing it capable of corrupting morals and undermining religion
Moralism
Utilitarianism
On the other hand, Other classical thinkers (Aristotle and Horace) considered literature capable of fostering virtue.

8. Moral Criticism Aristotle and Horace
considered literature capable of fostering virtue
Horace
Literature should be “delightful and instructive”
On the other hand, Other classical thinkers (Aristotle and Horace) considered literature capable of fostering virtue.
Usefulness and beauty – delightful and instructive

9. Moral Criticism Samuel Johnson Function of literature
To teach morality
To probe philosophical issues
( ) neoclassic period

10. Moral Criticism Matthew Arnold “The Study of Poetry”
Most important thing is the moral or philosophical teaching
Great literary work must possess “high seriousness”
literature (poetry)
Important source of moral and spiritual inspiration
Would probably replace philosophy and religion
Extreme position that literature (poetry) is an extremely important source of moral and spiritual inspiration and would probably replace or be a substitute for philosophy and religion.

11. Moral Criticism Matthew Arnold
Can accept his idea that there are moral and religious significance in literature.

12. Moral Criticism 20th century moral evaluation Neo-Humanist
Originally American
Literature as a criticism of life
the study of the technique of literature is a study of means
concerned with the ends of literature
How it affects the reader
In the 20th century, the impulse toward moral evaluation has been expressed chiefly by writers who are grouped by the label Neo-Humanist.
Their chief interest lies in literature as a criticism of life. To them, the study of the technique of literature is a study of means, whereas they are concerned with the ends of literature as affecting man, with literature as it takes its place in the human forum of ideas and attitudes.

13. Moral Criticism Neo-Humanist Paul Elmer More Irving Babbitt
Norman Foerster
Harry Hayden Clark
G.R. Elliott
Robert Shafer
Frank Jewett Mather
Gorham Munson
Stuart Sherman Pratt
Writing in the early part of 20th century – for More; 1908 for Babbitt; etc.

14. Moral Criticism Neo-Humanist Opposed two literary tendencies:
Naturalism
Denies man free will and responsibility
Romanticism
Excessive cultivation of ego
Sympathy with unrestrained expression
In practice, they tended to oppose two literary tendencies: Naaturalism, with its debased view of man, denying him free will and responsibiliity; and Romanticism, with its excessive cultivation of the ego and sympathy with comparatively unrestrained expression. Most of the contemporary literature of their day fell into these two categories.
Their strong sense of morality led to a reactionary charge of ethical hyper orthodoxy. However, many of these Neo-Humanists strove to unite moral earnestness, based on a thoughtful and dignified concept of man’s nature, with aesthetic sensitivity.

15. Moral Criticism Irving Babbitt
most influential and controversial moral critic of the 20th century
held that literature must help us recognize
the reality of evil
the necessity of controlling our impulses
Irving Babbitt, probably the most influential and controversial moral critic of the 20th century, held that literature must help us recognize the reality of evil and the necessity of controlling our impulses.
“Truly great literature,” argues Babbitt, “conforms to standards, to the ethical norm that sets bounds to the eagerness of the creator to express himself.”
Literature that does not abide by such standards leads to self-indulgence and, ultimately, moral degeneration.

16. Moral Criticism Babbitt “Genius and Taste” (1918)
“Truly great literature conforms to standards, to the ethical norm that sets bounds to the eagerness of the creator to express himself.” ( )
Literature that does not abide by such standards leads to:
self-indulgence
moral degeneration

17. Moral Criticism Babbitt Rousseau and Romanticism (1919)
critical of romanticism
condemns romantic morality
sees Blake as “the extreme example” of dangerous romantic rejection of limits and restraints:
“He proclaims himself of the devil’s party, he glorifies a free expansion of energy, he looks upon everything that restricts this expansion as synonymous with evil.”
Blake & other poets have contributed to a moral decline in society.
Given his view, it is not surprising that Babbitt is critical of romanticism. In Rousseau and Romanticism, he condemns romantic morality. He sees Blake as “the extreme example” of dangerous romantic rejection of limits and restraints: “He proclaims himself of the devil’s party, he glorifies a free expansion of energy, he looks upon everything that restricts this expansion as synonymous with evil.” Poets such as Blake, according to Babbitt, have contributed to a moral decline in society.

18. Moral Criticism Paul Elmer More “Criticism”
It is the critic’s duty, to determine the moral tendency of literary works and to judge them on that basis.
The greatest critics are “discriminators between the false and the true, the deformed and the normal: preachers of harmony and proportion and order, prophets of the religion of taste.”
Paul Elmer More takes a similar approach to criticism. It is the critic’s duty, according to More in his essay “Criticism” to determine the moral tendency of literary works and to judge them on that basis; the greatest critics are “discriminators between the false and the true, the deformed and the normal: preachers of harmony and proportion and order, prophets of the religion of taste.”

19. Moral Criticism Paul Elmer More “The Praise of Dickens”
Focuses on what is “false” and what is “true” in Dickens’ works.
Values Dickens’ “divine tenderness” and “human delicacy” but also says “a strain of vulgarity” runs through his works (166).

20. Moral Criticism Point of contention:
Whether the moralist would or would not acknowledge supernatural sanction for the moral standards he held up to the arts.
More
Associated with institutional religion
Elliott
Necessity of alliance between religion and morality
Babbitt
Secular and religiously noncommittal
T.E> Humle expressed a division between his own position and that of the Neo-Humanists. Both opposed the softness and confusion of Romanticism. The difference came down to this: Whether the moralist would or would not acknowledge supernatural sanction for the moral standards he held up to the arts.
The Neo-Humanists were unsettled about the questions: More became associated with institutional religion and G.R. Elliott declared positively the necessity of an alliance between religion and morality. Most of the group followed Babbitt’s lead in remaining secular and religiously noncommittal

21. Moral Criticism 1940’s “Death” of Neo-Humanism
Birth of Christian Humanism (Religious Humanism)
"a philosophy advocating the self- fulfillment of man within the framework of Christian principles.“ (Webster)
Most human beings have personal and social needs that can only be met by religion
T.S. Eliot
Edmund Fuller
Hyatt Waggoner
With the death of Babbitt in 1933 and of More in 1937, the movement seemed to be at an end, losing its staunchest defenders of Humanism. More than die, it underwent a rebirth, the result of the turmoil to incorporate the warrant of religious persuasion into the recommendation of moral standards. When the movement died in its early form, the values survived (and still do) in alliance with religion.
Christian Humanism is defined by Webster's Third New International Dictionary as "a philosophy advocating the self- fulfillment of man within the framework of Christian principles." This more human-oriented faith is largely a product of the Renaissance and is a part of what made up Renaissance humanism. Renaissance Humanism developed at the end of the middle ages with the revival of classical letters and a renewed confidence in the ability of human beings to determine for themselves truth and falsehood.

22. Moral Criticism Edmund Fuller
Man in Modern Fiction: Some Minority Opinions on Contemporary American Writing (1958)
Fuller’s definition of critic is “to appraise the validity and the implications of the image of man projected by the artist’s use of his materials.”
Edmund Fuller focuses on moral criticism in his Man in Modern Fiction: Some Minority Opinions on Contemporary American Writing. Fuller’s definition of critic is “to appraise the validity and the implications of the image of man projected by the artist’s use of his materials.”
Fuller, like Babbitt and More, sees standards and restraints as essential for moral action. He condemns much of modern fiction for rejecting these guides in the name of compassion. “Compassion must be based on a large and generous view of life and a distinct set of values.” The compassion found in many modern novels, by contrast is “a teary slobbering over the criminal and degraded, the refusal to assign any share of responsibility to them, and a vindictive lashing out against the rest of the world.”

23. Moral Criticism
Fuller (like Babbitt and More) sees standards and restraints as essential for moral action.
Condemns much of modern fiction for rejecting these guides in the name of compassion.
“Compassion must be based on a large and generous view of life and a distinct set of values” (34).
The compassion found in many modern novels is “a teary slobbering over the criminal and degraded, the refusal to assign any share of responsibility to them, and a vindictive lashing out against the rest of the world” (35-37)

24. Moral Criticism Tobin Siebers The Ethics of Criticism
“literary criticism is inextricably linked to ethics” (1)
“…literary criticism accepts the task of examining to what extent literature and life contribute to the nature and knowledge of each other” (42).
In The Ethics of Criticism, Tobin Siebers declares that “literary criticism is inextricably linked to ethics.” “…literary criticism accepts the task of examining to what extent literature and life contribute to the nature and knowledge of each other.”

25. Moral Criticism
Attempts to extract literature from an ethical context are misguided and ultimately unsuccessful.
Faults New Criticism
Attempts to extract literature from an ethical context are misguided and ultimately unsuccessful.
Siebers faults the New Criticism, for example, for trying to treat literary works as completely autonomous creations, for arguing that any interest either in an author’s intentions or in a work’s effect on its audience is irrelevant to the true business of criticism.

26. Christopher Clausen
The Moral Imagination: Essays on Literature and Ethics (1986)
“literary works usually embody moral problems and reflect moral attitudes, sometimes even moral theories. There is no good reason for criticism to tiptoe around one of the major reasons that literary works endure” (xi).
In The Moral Imagination: Essays on Literature and Ethics, Christopher Clausen says, “literary works usually embody moral problems and reflect moral attitudes, sometimes even moral theories. There is no good reason for criticism to tiptoe around one of the major reasons that literary works endure.”

27. Moral Criticism
Moral approach has become less popular and influential during the last few decades.
Why?
It could be due to
the excess of the critics
the deficiencies of the approach itself
the moral laxness of other critics
The approach that Babbitt, More, and Fuller epitomize has become less popular and influential during the last few decades.
Why? It could be due to the excess of the critics, the deficiencies of the approach itself, or the moral laxness of other critics.

28. Moral Criticism
However, there are other critics/critical fields which promote a moral fervor in their writings:
Feminist criticism
Marxist criticism
However, there are many contemporary critics who promote a moral fervor in their writings
Feminist critics who call attention to sexual stereotypes in literary works clearly seem to be applying moral as well as aesthetic criteria when they judge such works inferior.
The criticism of the Marxists is at base moral, though the image of man they propose differs greatly from that of the Humanists and is related to more to a social approach.
Lawrence Lipking notes that in addition to winning critical attention for many neglected works by women writers, feminist criticism has sparked a reevaluation of many works traditionally granted high, secure places in the canon. “Something peculiar has been happening lately to the classics,” he writes, “some of them now seem less heroic, and some of them less funny. Those ‘irrelevant’ scenes of cruelty to women… have changed their character.”

29. Moral Criticism Lawrence Lipking
“Aristotle’s Sister: A Poetics of Abandonment” (1983)
In addition to winning critical attention for many neglected works by women writers, feminist criticism has sparked a reevaluation of many works traditionally granted high, secure places in the canon.
“Something peculiar has been happening lately to the classics; some of them now seem less heroic, and some of them less funny. Those ‘irrelevant’ scenes of cruelty to women… have changed their character.” (79)

30. Moral Criticism F.R. Leavis Yvor Winters
Do not categorize themselves as “Humanists”
Do express the traditional concern for the moral ends of literature

31. Religious Criticism Kenneth B. Murdock
Literature and Theology in Colonial New England (1949)
Analyzes Puritan works
Sermons to poems
Notes plain style
Disapproval of art that only pleased the senses
Imagery: “homeliness” and “realism”
Religious studies of literature often share a focus on moral issues, but some studies have taken other directions.
Scope of studies run from apologetic theology to the theory of aesthetics to literary history and the history of ideas
Some students of religion & literature are essentially formalists while some are structuralists, and others employ a number of other critical methods.

32. Religious Criticism Helen Gardner Religion and Literature (1971)
Examined religious elements in secular works
Hamlet
It is “a Christian tragedy in the sense that it is a tragedy of the imperatives and torments of the conscience.”
Hamlet’s discovery of all the evil and corruption in the world
Must recognize Hamlet’s attitude as fundamentally Christian

33. Religious Criticism Stanley Romaine Hopper
Spiritual Problems in Contemporary Literature (1952)
Much modern literature is fundamentally religious
Quest of the Prodigal is central theme in poetry of Auden and Eliot
Analysis of such poetry would be incomplete without taking religious themes into account
Studying such poetry can help the reader understand vital religious issues