Morality through Fiction

Catalog description

This course is centered on the question: How do we learn not only what virtue is but how to be virtuous? In accordance with Catholic Virtue Ethics, this course considers virtue within the framework of character formation and begins with the premise that we can learn how to be virtuous by watching other people’s actions and decisions. By giving us a broad lens of human experience, fiction can serve as the primary teacher of virtue. Through reflection on the fiction works of Franz Kafka, Ayn Rand, Ursula Le Guin, Graham Greene, Walter Miller, and Azar Nafisi, in dialogue with various Catholic magisterial documents, for example, Gaudium et spes, Dignitatis Humanae, Evangelium vitae, Deus caritas est, and Lumen fidei, this course will address questions such as: Is all self-sacrifice virtuous? Is luxury necessary for authentic human development? Can governments prevent virtue? Is there virtue in failure? Is there a necessary connection between religion and morality?