Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 73

LITERATURE AND MORALITY

and axioms drop casually from him; he makes no just distribution of good or evil, nor is always careful to show in the virtuous
a disapproval of the wicked; he carries his persons indifferently
through right and wrong and at the close dismisses them without
further care and leaves their examples to operate by chance. This
fault the barbarity of his age cannot extenuate; for it is always a
writer's duty to make the world better, and justice is a virtue independent on time or place.2

Although "he that thinks reasonably must think morally," reasonable thought on the part of an author is insufficient: he must
be more careful to instruct than to please, and must write with a-
presumably explicit-"moral purpose."
Johnson thus argues that an accomplished work of literature
may have a deleterious influence on the virtue of its readers,
with the implication that literary excellence and moral rectitude
are not merely distinct but wholly separate qualities. While few
contemporary observers are as suspicious of Shakespeare as was
Dr. Johnson, we are concerned about the effect of violent computer games, licentious music videos, and vulgar rap lyrics on
our children. Many men and women regard the representational
arts as they do food: what is exciting and appealing is probably
morally dubious, just as tasty foods are usually fattening and
raise our cholesterol and blood pressure. Of course many progressive, health-conscious individuals who would never dream
of consuming trans fats think nothing of ingesting films and novels that leave all manner of accretions in their souls and lower
their levels of moral sensitivity. If there is a clash between morals
and aesthetic appeal, so much the worse for morals.
Most nutritionists will argue, to the contrary, that an educated
				moder nagejour nal .com 	

73



http://www.modernagejournal.com

Modern Age - Winter 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Modern Age - Winter 2017

Contents
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - Cover1
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - Cover2
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - Contents
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 2
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 3
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 4
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 5
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 6
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 7
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 8
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 9
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 10
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 11
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 12
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 13
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 14
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 15
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 16
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 17
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 18
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 19
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 20
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 21
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 22
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 23
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 24
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 25
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 26
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 27
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 28
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 29
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 30
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 31
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 32
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 33
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 34
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 35
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 36
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 37
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 38
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 39
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 40
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 41
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 42
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 43
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 44
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 45
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 46
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 47
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 48
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 49
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 50
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 51
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 52
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 53
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 54
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 55
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 56
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 57
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 58
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 59
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 60
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 61
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 62
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 63
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 64
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 65
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 66
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 67
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 68
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 69
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 70
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 71
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 72
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 73
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 74
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 75
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 76
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 77
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 78
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 79
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 80
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 81
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 82
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 83
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 84
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 85
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 86
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 87
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 88
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 89
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 90
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 91
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 92
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 93
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 94
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 95
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 96
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 97
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 98
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 99
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 100
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 101
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 102
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 103
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 104
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 105
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 106
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 107
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 108
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 109
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 110
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 111
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 112
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 113
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 114
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 115
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 116
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 117
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 118
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 119
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 120
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 121
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 122
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 123
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 124
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 125
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 126
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 127
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 128
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 129
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 130
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 131
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 132
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 133
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 134
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 135
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 136
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 137
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 138
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 139
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 140
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 141
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 142
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 143
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 144
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 145
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 146
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 147
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 148
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 149
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 150
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 151
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - 152
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - Cover3
Modern Age - Winter 2017 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2018winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2015fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2014fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2014summer
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com