The Philosophy Of Becoming In Paulo Coelho’s Fiction: Ethics, Choice, And Experiential Spirituality

Abstract

Despite Paulo Coelho’s global popularity, his fiction is frequently dismissed within academic criticism as inspirational or philosophically simplistic. This article challenges such reductive assessments by offering a philosophical re-reading of Coelho’s major novels through the concept of becoming. Drawing on philosophical–hermeneutic literary analysis and narrative ethics, the study argues that Coelho’s fiction articulates a coherent ethical vision in which spirituality functions as experiential moral practice rather than belief-based transcendence.

Focusing on The Alchemist, Brida, The Zahir, and The Pilgrimage, the article examines how recurring narrative structures foreground ethical choice, responsibility, and moral labour as central to spiritual development. Across these texts, becoming is presented not as a state of enlightenment or personal fulfilment, but as an ongoing ethical process shaped by decision-making, discipline, love, and accountability. Characters are repeatedly confronted with the consequences of choice, suggesting that freedom in Coelho’s fiction is inseparable from responsibility.

By repositioning Coelho as a philosophical novelist concerned with ethics rather than inspiration, this study contributes to broader debates in philosophy and literature, narrative ethics, and the critical evaluation of popular fiction. It demonstrates that Coelho’s novels sustain a serious engagement with moral selfhood and experiential spirituality, warranting renewed scholarly attention beyond prevailing dismissive frameworks.