Negative capability

>>9384422
>Negative capability
I'm a bit skeptical of this concept. Attempts to avoid ideology generally run into an acceptance of the status quo as a natural state.

>>9384558
Is that how you see it? I always read Negative capability as the ability to accept people as they are without the urge or anxiety to challenge the opinions you disagree with. Which is why I think Keats thought it essential for a writer.

>>9384629
I don't write fiction, I'm a journalist, and it reminds me of "journalistic objectivity", where you don't insert your own views on a certain topic. So instead, you seek out the opposite view, if you feel it is necessary.

That feeling of necessity is the tricky part. Lets say I'm writing about a KKK protest downtown. Of course I'm going to contact someone like the ACLU or Southern Poverty Law Center to get their rebuttal of the KKK's message.

But that doesn't always happen. A collegue wrote about Richard Dawkin's recent vist to our town, he got a banal quote from the local catholic diocese, and also from the event organizer/host (the Unitarian church), but he left it at that. I feel the bigger controversy surrounding Dawkins isn't the Religion vs Science debate, but rather Dawkins increasingly divisive rhetoric around Feminism and the Humanities.

The choice to include or not include certain view points is an ideological choice. In fiction, such as shakespeare, I suspect this would equate to what kinds of characters you include as foils to other characters. By not including an ideological enemy to contrast a certain view, you can let that position fly as natural or objective.

File: Andrzej_Sapkowski_-_The_Last_Wish.jpg (30KB, 255x413px) Image search: [Google]

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>>9384422
The whole Witcher book series is pretty much about acceptance and doubting your own view.

>>9384676
Hm. That's a good place to start. Thank you.