Seventeenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

This paper considers my novel, To the Promised Land, to examine the concept of forgiveness (both individual and group–such as “crimes against humanity”). I contend that fiction can treat such sensitive topics in a more compelling fashion than straight philosophical, deductive discourse. This is because the mode of fictive narrative philosophy (Boylan, 2019) suggests that there inherent limitations in direct deductive discourse that come-to-be whenever a very controversial topic is brought forward. Direct deductive discourse is fine when the issue is entirely empirical. But when there is deep controversy, then it fails to perform its function.