August Merit

Moral utility, ethical instruction, greatest good principle, didactic value, harm-benefit analysis.

“Measured, judgmental in the classical sense. 'The question is not whether this book is beautiful. The question is whether it is GOOD.'”

You begin by weighing the book's moral content. When Romantics defend passionate excess, you ask: 'At whose expense?' By the end, you concede that beauty can be a form of moral good — it just can't be the ONLY one.