Title: Ethical Judgment and the Nature of Literary Discourse
Abstract: The close connection between literature and ethics is undeniable, whether we start from literature or moral philosophy. Using Fowles’ novel The Magus as an example, we will show that the reason for this close connection lies in the a priori structural affinity between the nature of ethical judgement and literary discourse. Aristotle already noted that the ethical judgement or value of a given action depends essentially on occasional circumstances, on context. It is usually a singular matter that cannot be represented in theoretical discourse, but only in literature. Consequently, literature is a privileged instrument for discussing ethical issues.
Bio: Tomo Virk (1960) is Senior Professor of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the Department of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. In the past, he has been the vice-dean of the faculty. He is a member of Slovene Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has produced hundreds of articles in several languages, and sexteen books, five of them being translated and published in foreign languages. He publishes on Literary Theory, Contemporary World Literature, Slovene Literature, Theory of the Novel, Ethical literary Criticism, Literature and Philosophy. In addition, he has translated into Slovenian more than 20 books of Philosophy and Theory. For his scientific work, as well as for his translations, he was awarded with several national and University awards.