Martha Nussbaum's (1997) proposed concept of "Narrative Imagination" is treated as separate from, but equally important to, "Critical Reasoning" as aims of a liberal arts education.
Nussbaum (1997) describes this as “understanding the world from the point of view of the other… until we see the meaning of an action as the person intended it… in the context of that person’s history and social world” (p. 3 of excerpt). She also suggests that compassion and empathy are central to developing narrative imagination, and suggests it is important to include the study of marginalized groups’ knowledge (e.g. study of non-Western cultures, women’s studies, sexuality and ethnic studies). This echoes the feminine “connected knower” who “in order to understand what a person is saying she must adopt the person’s own terms” (Clinchy, 1994, p. 39, mentioned in page on Constructed Knowing). But while “connected knowing” is empathetic and almost uncritical, refraining from judgment (Clinchy, 1994), Nussbaum emphasizes that “narrative imagination” is not uncritical, as her end goal of narrative imagination is to judge the other, but after understanding their point of view in their local context. This echoes Edward Said’s "Philological Hermeneutics” approach to critique which starts with receiving a text (i.e. sympathetic understanding of an author’s point of view and context), before moving onto resisting it via criticism (cited in Nixon, 2006). It also echoes Brookfield’s understanding of critical reading as first looking at it from the author’s point of view (Brookfield, 2012). Nussbaum (1998) suggests this capacity is best developed in literature and arts courses.