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What M ary Didn't Read: On Literary Narratives and Knowledge
Author(s) -
Kajtár László
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
ratio
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.475
H-Index - 29
eISSN - 1467-9329
pISSN - 0034-0006
DOI - 10.1111/rati.12098
Subject(s) - argument (complex analysis) , narrative , epistemology , value (mathematics) , experiential learning , pleasure , humanism , sociology , philosophy , aesthetics , psychology , linguistics , computer science , theology , pedagogy , biochemistry , chemistry , machine learning , neuroscience
In the philosophy of art, one of the most important debates concerns the so‐called ‘cognitive value’ of literature. The main question is phrased in various ways. Can literary narratives provide knowledge? Can readers learn from works of literature? Most of the discussants agree on an affirmative answer, but it is contested what the relevant notions of truth and knowledge are and whether this knowledge and learning influence aesthetic or literary value. The issue takes on a wider, not only philosophical, importance as it is one of the central tenets of humanistic education that art and literature are valuable not only because the pleasure they afford. This paper offers a new line of argument in departing from propositional truth, arguing that literary narratives provide aesthetically significant knowledge, however, this knowledge cannot be captured in propositional form. My position depends crucially on F rank J ackson's influential knowledge argument. The paper describes a modified ‘What M ary Didn't Read’ case. In doing so, it is argued that the knowledge literary works provide should be understood as a type of experiential knowing of ‘what it is like’ analogous to what M ary acquires in the original case of seeing a new colour for the first time.