#  "Caught Between Morality and Art": New publication by Graduate Fellow Jan-Paul Sandmann 

 





September 15, 2025

 

 

     ![Jan-Paul Sandmann](/sites/g/files/omnuum9911/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-09/Jan-Paul%20Sandmann-3.png?itok=VSLJub7c) 

 



 

 ![Jan-Paul Sandmann](/sites/g/files/omnuum9911/files/2025-09/Jan-Paul%20Sandmann-3.png)

 

[Jan-Paul Sandmann](https://www.ethics.harvard.edu/people/jan-paul-sandmann), current Graduate Fellow at the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics, has just published a new article in *Philosophy & Social Criticism*. The piece, titled ["Caught Between Morality and Art: Susan Sontag on Metaphors of Illness,"](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01914537251377668) explores Sontag's influential critique of illness metaphors and explores the enduring tensions in her work between ethical clarity, artistic expression, and public discourse.

While Sontag famously called for a cultural liberation from metaphor—especially in representations of illness—this paper argues that she does not reject metaphor outright. Instead, she challenges us to ask how figurative language might still serve public life in meaningful ways. By highlighting Sontag's ambivalence toward both metaphor and modern medical objectivity, the article opens broader questions about the social role of art.

[Read the article here.](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/01914537251377668)