The Enlargement of Life - by John Kekes (Paperback)

About the Book

Moral imagination, according to John Kekes, is indispensable to a fulfilling and responsible life. By correcting a parochial view of the possibilities available to us and overcoming mistaken assumptions about our limitations, moral imagination...

Book Synopsis

Moral imagination, according to John Kekes, is indispensable to a fulfilling and responsible life. By correcting a parochial view of the possibilities available to us and overcoming mistaken assumptions about our limitations, moral imagination liberates us from self-imposed narrowness. It enlarges life by enabling us to reflect more deeply and widely about how we should live. The material for this reflection, Kekes believes, is supplied by literature. Each of the eleven chapters of the book focuses on a novel, play, or autobiography that exemplifies the protagonist's reflective self-evaluation. Kekes shows the enduring significance of these protagonists' successes or failures and how we might apply what they teach to our very different characters and circumstances.Kekes discusses John Stuart Mill's Autobiography, the Oedipus tragedies by Sophocles, Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, Henry James's The Ambassadors and The Golden Bowl, Montaigne's Essays, a story by Herodotus, and Arthur Koestler's Arrival and Departure. Throughout, Kekes shows that moral thought must be concrete, not abstract; that good reasons for or against how we live and what choices we make are available but must be particular, not universal; and that the rigid separation of literature, psychology, and moral thought is detrimental to all three.

Review Quotes

The Enlargement of Life develops an elaborate account, using detailed case studies, of how people can change (or fail to change) what they are like. It presents this life-changing enterprise as principally cognitive in nature. One needs to understand strengths and weaknesses of what one has been, and also to understand the possibilities of change. 'Exploratory' and 'corrective' imagination play a major role, although Kekes argues that the imagination needs to be disciplined for the process to work. He also argues that there are moral constraints, related to personal responsibility, on what can qualify as acceptable change.

There is a great deal that is interesting and provocative in Kekes's criticism of the voluntarist ideal of the good life, and his proposed alternative is developed with care. There is much to disagree with in this book, too, but certainly much to admire in Kekes's characteristically bold and engaging style.

About the Author

John Kekes is the author of many books, including The Roots of Evil, The Illusions of Egalitarianism, and The Art of Life, all from Cornell.