Philosophical literature is the genre of fiction (or highly stylized non-fiction) that uses its stories to explore larger philosophical concepts. According to Wikipedia, "[p]hilosophical novels are works of fiction in which a significant proportion of the novel is devoted to a discussion of the sort of questions normally addressed in discursive philosophy. These might include the function and role of society, the purpose of life, ethics or morals, the role of art in human lives, and the role of experience or reason in the development of knowledge. Philosophical novels would include the so-called novel of ideas, including a significant proportion of science fiction, utopian/dystopian novels, and Bildungsroman.
Authors including Sartre, Huxley, Goethe, Dante, Faulkner, Joyce, O'Connor, and countless others
can be considered philosophical authors due to their engagement of deeper ideas that go beyond
what is normally involved in literature.
Some classic examples of philosophical literature include: