The Value of Literature: Knowledge and Imagination (original) (raw)

The topic of this dissertation is partly motivated by a climate where the importance of literature no longer goes unquestioned. Statistics show that the general population reads less. This seems to beg questions about what sort of value literature, and art in general, has, particularly when having to justify the spending of money, be it personal, private, or public. I argue how metaphors in poetry make it possible for us to imagine abstract notions that are otherwise unimaginable, and also how engaging imaginatively with a work of literature is akin to engaging in counterfactual thinking. How is this useful? I propose two ways in which literature can be valuable: (1) It reveals to us knowledge (qualitative) that is different from, but complimenting, other forms of knowledge such as scientific knowledge. (2) It enriches our potential for empathy through imagination. This, when taken taken as part of a wider social, holistic, and lifelong system of moral education, may contribute in furthering a more moral self and a more moral society.