This document discusses the moralistic approach to literary criticism, which judges works based on their ethical teachings and effects on readers rather than formal principles. It provides examples of critics like Plato, Horace, Sidney, and Johnson who took a moralistic view and praised literature that encouraged virtue or condemned works that misguided readers. The document also discusses related movements like humanism during the Renaissance which emphasized order, restraint, discipline, and the study of classical works. It notes 20th century critics like More, Babbitt, and Foerster who followed a neo-humanist, moralistic approach to literature.