Ethics Goes to the Movies: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy

Ethics Goes to the Movies: An Introduction to Moral Philosophy

by Christopher Falzon (Author), Christopher Falzon (Author)

Synopsis

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)
  • Discusses a wide range of movies, from Hollywood blockbusters and classics, like The Dark Knight, Casablanca, and Dirty Harry to lesser known films, like Force Majeure and Under the Skin
  • Includes at the end of each chapter a focus on two feature films, 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

$145.33

Quantity

5 in stock

More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 316
Edition: 1
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 21 Dec 2018

ISBN 10: 113893819X
ISBN 13: 9781138938199

Author Bio
Christopher Falzon is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Newcastle, Australia. He is the author of Foucault and Social Dialogue (Routledge, 1998) and Philosophy Goes to the Movies (Routledge, 3rd edition 2014); co-editor of Foucault and Philosophy (2010) and A Blackwell Companion to Foucault (2013).