Is it possible for postmodernism to offer coherent accounts of ethics in a fragmented social and intellectual world? In this collection, a distinguished international gathering of philosophers and literary scholars address the renewed interest in the literary text as a focus for ethical issues. Exponents of this trend include Charles Taylor, Bernard Williams, Iris Murdoch, Cora Diamond, Richard Rorty and Martha Nussbaum--a contributor and a key figure in this volume. This book assesses the significance of this development for ethical and literary theory.