Henry James, Principled Realism

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as well as rational responses; to the extent that readers come to care about the novel's characters, they are in a position to perceive and share the fundamental ethical stance of James's fiction."

On the other hand, Kearns defines his term "naïve realism" as characteristic of "someone who mistakenly elevates socially constructed and verbalized knowledge over the individual and inarticulate rather than accepting both as valuable." Kearns believes that Dr. Sloper and the narrator both practice naïve realism and this, he contends, is dangerous thinking. He continues: " Sloper's naïve realism manifests itself in his belief that he can build a valid theory on facts…he has reduced to propositions."

Kearns implies that James creates fictional characters (such as Dr. Sloper) to help his readers form the correct ethical judgement about the novel. The doctor is so cold, so calculating, the readers naturally would want to take the opposing position. He is not the only one that ...

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