%0 Journal Article
%T The Ethics of Reading. Side Notes to Thomas Pavel’s Sketch
%A Głąb, Anna
%J Konteksty Kultury
%V 2018
%R 10.4467/23531991KK.18.044.10586
%N Volume 15 Issue 4
%P 480-496
%K history of the novel, Thomas Pavel, ethics of reading, ethical literary criticism
%@ 2083-7658
%D 2019
%U https://ejournals.eu/en/journal/konteksty-kultury/article/etyka-czytania-na-marginesie-szkicu-thomasa-pavla
%X The author considers the method used by Thomas Pavel in his essay. This is a method of the ethics of reading, or rather of ethical literary criticism. Literary fiction is considered to be a record of human experience, which purifies human perception. If literature is viewed as a source of moral understanding, then works of literature can be seen as arising awareness of the sorts of questions from which mature and responsible thinking arises. The author points to the fact that literary fiction might be a source of knowledge about the consciousness of the Other, as well as a space which safeguards individuality. Moreover, she claims that the understanding we acquire while reading works of literature can have moral significance, in the sense that it instils empathy and respect for otherness in the reader.