Ethics Goes to the Movies

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

• AcknowledgementsIntroduction – Rear Window EthicsWhat is ethics?Film as experimentalExploring ethics through filmChapter 1. Excess and obsession – Ancient ethicsWhy be moralPlato’s moral theoryAristotle and virtue ethicsStoicismEpicureanismFeature films: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Under the SkinChapter 2. Sin and self-denial: Religious ethicsDivine commandAugustineAquinas and natural lawThe problem of evilFeature films: Crimes and Misdemeanors, and The AddictionChapter 3. Pleasure, happiness and rights: Enlightenment ethicsHobbes and the social contractEnlightenment and happinessUtilitarianismRightsThe libertine and scientific moralityFeature films: Dirty Harry, and The Dark KnightChapter 4. Personhood and autonomy: Kantian ethicsDuty and desirePersonsAutonomyMarxHabermas and discourse ethicsFeature films: High Noon, and No Country for Old MenChapter 5. Slaves, supermen and authentic selves: Existentialist ethicsNietzscheKierkegaardTwentieth-century existentialism: Sartre et al.The social situation: de BeauvoirFeature films: Rope, and Fight ClubChapter 6. Encounters with aliens: Ethics and the otherThe critique of ‘traditional’ ethicsThe ethics of careLevinas and the ethics of the otherFoucault, ethics and powerExperiments in livingFeature films: Casablanca, and Force MajeureFilmographyGlossaryBibliographyIndex

'Christopher Falzon has written another exemplary book, which makes an important contribution to introducing students and the general public to the basic areas of ethical theory. His vast knowledge of films, from the silent era to the present day, provides an accessible way to engage the reader and clarify moral dilemmas.'–Timothy J. Madigan, St John Fisher College, USA