Ethics Goes to the Movies : an Introduction to Moral Philosophy

Movies hold a mirror up to us, portraying the complexities of human reality through their characters and stories. And they vividly illustrate moral theories that address questions about how we are to live and what sort of people we ought to be. In this book, Christopher Falzon uses movies to provide a rich survey of moral positions as they have emerged through history. These include the ethics of the ancient world, medieval ethics, Enlightenment and Kantian ethics, existentialist ethics and the ethics of the other. Each theory is explained in detail, using a number of examples from the book's wide selection of movies. The discussion draws on a range of recent and not-so-recent films, from Hollywood blockbusters to art-house cinema. Key Features: In addition to covering thinkers one would expect in an introduction to ethics (e.g., Plato, Aristotle, Kant), the book discusses less canonical figures in detail as well (e.g., Marcuse, Foucault, Habermas). Similarly, the book examines both major ethical theories (e.g., Kantianism, utilitarianism, virtue ethics) and theories too often glossed over in introductory texts (e.g. Stoicism, Epicureanism, Habermas's discourse ethics and Nietzschean ethics). A wide range of movies are discussed, from Hollywood blockbusters and classics like The Dark Knight, Casablanca and Dirty Harry to lesser known films, like Force Majeure and Under the Skin. Atthe end of each chapter a focus on two feature films is included, with a plot summary and interpretations of several key scenes with a time marker indicating when in the film the scenes occur. A Filmography includes all movies discussed in the book and a Glossary covers key philosophical terms and figures; both with corresponding page numbers Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Rear Window Ethics What Is Ethics? Film as Experimental Exploring Ethics Through Film Chapter 1 Excess and Obsession: Ancient Ethics Why Be Moral? Plato’s Moral Theory Aristotle and Virtue Ethics Stoicism Epicureanism FEATURE FILMS: DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE and UNDER THE SKIN Chapter 2 Sin and Self-Denial: Religious Ethics Divine Command Augustine Aquinas and Natural Law The Problem of Evil FEATURE FILMS: CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS and THE ADDICTION Chapter 3 Pleasure, Happiness and Rights: Enlightenment Ethics Hobbes and the Social Contract Enlightenment and Happiness Utilitarianism Locke and Rights The Libertine and Scientific Morality FEATURE FILMS: DIRTY HARRY and THE DARK KNIGHT Chapter 4 Personhood and Autonomy: Kantian Ethics Duty and Desire Persons Autonomy Marx Habermas and Discourse Ethics FEATURE FILMS: HIGH NOON and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Chapter 5 Slaves, Supermen and Authentic Selves: Existentialist Ethics Nietzsche Kierkegaard Twentieth-Century Existentialism: Sartre et al. The Social Situation: de Beauvoir FEATURE FILMS: ROPE and FIGHT CLUB Chapter 6 Encounters with Aliens: Ethics and the Other The Critique of ‘Traditional’ Ethics The Ethics of Care Levinas, Ethics and the Other Foucault, Power and Ethics Experiments in Living FEATURE FILMS: CASABLANCA and FORCE MAJEURE Filmography Glossary Bibliography Index