On Morality

E739118

"On Morality" is an influential essay by Joan Didion that examines the fragility and hypocrisy of conventional moral codes, collected in her 1968 nonfiction book Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

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Predicate Object
instanceOf essay
nonfiction essay
author Joan Didion NERFINISHED
collection Slouching Towards Bethlehem NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
discusses difference between manners and morals
personal codes of conduct
social expectations
examines limits of moral judgment
role of narrative in justifying moral choices
tension between public morality and private behavior
firstPublishedIn Slouching Towards Bethlehem NERFINISHED
genre journalistic essay
literary essay
philosophical essay
hasForm prose
hasNotableQuote ‘Because when we start deceiving ourselves into thinking not that we want something or need something... but that it is a moral imperative that we have it, then is when we join the fashionable madmen...’
hasPerspective skeptical of absolute moral rules
subjective
includedInBook Slouching Towards Bethlehem NERFINISHED
influenced discussions of ethics in American nonfiction
language English
literaryMovement New Journalism NERFINISHED
mainTheme American culture
fragility of moral codes
hypocrisy of conventional moral codes
individual responsibility
moral relativism
morality
self-deception
social norms
narrativeStyle first-person
personal reflection
partOf Joan Didion bibliography
periodOfComposition 1960s
publicationYear 1968
publisherOfCollection Farrar, Straus and Giroux NERFINISHED
relatedWorkByAuthor Goodbye to All That NERFINISHED
On Self-Respect NERFINISHED
Slouching Towards Bethlehem (title essay) NERFINISHED
setting American West NERFINISHED
Nevada desert NERFINISHED
subjectOf literary criticism
targetAudience general readership
readers of literary nonfiction
tone critical
introspective
skeptical
workChronologyWithinCollection 1960s essays by Joan Didion

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