John Williams, Moral Perfectionist

The main aim of this interdisciplinary project is to argue that literature and narrative art can play a prominent role in the fostering of moral understanding, particularly from the perspective of moral perfectionism. The project seeks to exemplify this through a study of three novels by American author John Williams in a manner that seeks both to resolve a puzzle concerning interpretation and highlight the philosophical significance of the novels. As such the project promises to be of both literary and philosophical significance. In particular, the project aims to underscore the importance of close attention to genre conventions in a way that so far has been largely lacking in the philosophy of literature. Furthermore, the perspective of moral perfectionism—which also has been underrepresented in discussions concerning morality and literature—offers a way to facilitate philosophical treatment of the novels and open up new and interesting methodological questions.