My stand on art is that it can be both for good and for bad when it comes to the question of ethics. For example, literature as art can act in both ways, which way it goes depends on both the writer and reader. Literature, since it's inception has always been a form of communication, and good literat

ure be it the prose of Trollope, poems of Blake, the plays of Shakespeare or even political propaganda has always had the sincerity of its creator. Throughout history, literature has been able to bring a social, or moral message to the people. And good literature has always been infectious, at times even igniting reform and revolution. Without a doubt, literature brings to the reader or audience a circumstance we are unable to experience in real life and thus raise moral or social concerns. From Swift's satirical "Gulliver's Travels" which poked fun at the social mores of his time, to the fiction of Dickens whose plea for reform did not go unheard and pushed a program for reformation into action. Yet literature with its power to move masses can also go bad, for instance, the misinterpretation of Marxist theories led to the regime of suffering and terror we know as Communism. Art, as Tolstoy has described, is infectious, sincere and clear, qualities that make it extremely accessible to the masses, and given its infectious nature, art as a form of expression and communication can fuel changes or destroy whole societies.

Art, however may not tell the whole truth about real life situations. A literary work is after all written from the perspective of the author and the so called objectivity gained from a work of fiction can be skewed. To extend the example of "Hamlet", we see his deliberation about taking revenge, but for the sake of drama he does put his thoughts into action and murders his step-father. Murder cannot be justified much less when all evidence of the crime comes from a ghost. Shakespeare's work was never intended to be didactic, but it was meant to be dramatic. Even though the dilemma of Hamlet provokes our ethical deliberation, it does not attempt to preach or encourage any sort of moral behavior. The result of our moral deliberation is thus our responsibility, the audience will have to decide for itself what is right or wrong. Of course there are many other literary works that "sit on the fence", or lean towards one side of the moral judgment, and then there are also works that would deliberately promote a certain kind of behavior. These w

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