In this new study, Peter Johnson assesses the role of the novel in moral philosophy. Students of philosophy are keen to include selected novels as part of courses in ethics. Often, however, they do not know how novels are to be read philosophically, or what pictures of the novel are conducive to such readings. Addressing this need, Johnson explores the views of three prominent philosophers (Winch, Nussbaum and Rorty), criticising them in the light of a distinctive understanding of the novel's world. In this book students will find detailed discussions of the moral quandaries the novel displays together with informed engagement with leading philosophers in the current debate.