A rigorous philosophical examination of the ethical dimensions of art

The relationship between art and ethics remains one of the most contested areas in philosophical aesthetics. Art and Morality offers a sustained investigation of how artworks engage moral life—through the emotions they arouse, the beliefs they shape, and the evaluative frameworks we apply to them. Written by a leading philosopher of art, history, and ethics, the book presents arguments for and against the ethical significance of artistic experience with analytical precision.

Three chapters examine the ways art engenders emotions for both good and ill, analyzing competing positions on whether emotional responses carry genuine moral weight. A fourth chapter turns to cognition, investigating art's capacity to influence moral beliefs. The final two chapters engage directly with autonomism—the position that art should be appreciated solely for its own sake, independent of social practices including morality—presenting arguments both supporting and challenging this view.

Art and Morality serves undergraduate and graduate courses on the relation of art to morality and society. Written in an accessible style, it also addresses general readers drawn to philosophical questions raised by the arts, providing a structured framework for debates that have shaped aesthetics over two centuries.

NOËL CARROLL is Distinguished Professor in the Philosophy Program at The Graduate Center, CUNY. His research focuses on the philosophy of art and the arts, encompassing literature, fine art, photography, theater, dance, and motion pictures. He has held positions at NYU, Wesleyan, Cornell, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and Temple. A former journalist, he has written five documentary motion pictures. His books include The Philosophy of Horror, A Philosophy of Mass Art, The Philosophy of Motion Pictures, and Art in Three Dimensions.