Tuesday, October 19, 2010

"[A] major theme of [Morrison's] novels is the need for balance or wholeness. These qualities may be acquired by the characters in the novels only through an act that is analogous to one involved in the creation of art-an act of the imagination which comes from a willingness to see the world as others see it" (229).

As Tirrell concludes, "Without at least a minimally articulated notion of one's place in the community, one cannot be a moral agent" (124)

the importance of perception-"the ability to
discern, acutely and responsively, the salient features of one's particular situation"

"Moral knowledge ... is not simply intellectual grasp of propositions; it is not even simply intellectual grasp of particular facts; it is perception. It is seeing a complex, concrete reality in a highly lucid and richly responsive way; it is taking in what is there, with imagination and [intuitive, I might add] feeling" (152).