Dolly Parton is not simply a good person, or a beautiful poetess; she is both beautiful and good, in a way the philosophy of character strives to explain but can’t always illustrate convincingly. … it may be that Dolly can do more to explain the philosophers than the other way around. Let us make a start, however, with Aristotle’s understanding of human character and what he notices about this precise kind of wordlessness of praise. Be warned that Aristotle won’t be entirely able to wrap his head around the idea that a petite woman with a high voice might be a profound moral exemplar.
Mary Townsend, “Dolly Parton is Magnificent,” Plough Quarterly, March 4, 2022
A good and beautiful essay.
Image: “Walk of fame, Dolly Parton,” by I, Sailko, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Matters of Interpretation 
