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The essay in question is the translation of the fourth chapter of J. Hillis Miller’s book, On literature (2002), in which he circles around questions elemental yet convoluted for literary criticism. Miller reminds us about (as ancient as archetypal) dilemmas concerning the role of literature in society (e.g. Plato’s putdown of poetry and Aristotle’s defense of it) and discloses contemporary judgments covertly rooted in them. The fundamental issue is why Western culture has granted literature such great authority. His argument reposes on an assumption that literary works give us access to virtual realities that are not otherwise knowable.