Case in point: Gone Baby Gone (which I will be showing to the philosophy club here in two weeks).
Plot set up: crack whore mother is endangering her daughter, but is not declared legally incompetent as a parent. Detectives make it look like she is kidnapped, and one of them intends to give her a good home and raise her as his own. Casey Affleck plays the private detective who must choose between the law (and a bit of Kantian consistency) and the utilitarian argument that the girl is more likely to be happy with the Morgan Freeman character.
To my mind, the film embraces Affleck's decision to turn them in, and then his resolve to get involved in the girl's lie (the film ends with him babysitting as the mother goes out with someone who saw her on television.
That seems to qualify it as doing ethics (i.e., advocating an ethical position). It costs him his partner, whom he also loves romantically. So his sacrifice is not inconsiderable.
Thoughts?
Dan
Professor Daniel Shaw
Chair, Philosophy Department
Lock Haven University (570) 484-2052
Managing Editor, Film and Philosophy
"Hope is the thing with feathers--/ that perches in the soul--/
and sings the tune without the words--/ and never stops at all."
Emily Dickinson
________________________________________
From: Film-Philosophy [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Brian Keith Bergen-Aurand (Asst Prof) [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2010 6:12 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: FILM-PHILOSOPHY new thread
But, philosophy has never DONE ethics, it has only done ontology and epistemology. It has left ethics to be done after, once we understand what it is and what it means.
It is not only a question of ethics or morality, which is a question, but of ethics and ontology and epistemology as first philosophy. Ethics has always come in third.
And I have yet to see on this list (after years) of very smart folk a single reference to film and ethics or film DOING ethics. We don't even have the question yet.
I do, of course, concentrate on film and ethics or film doing ethics. That's why I bring this up.
regards,
Brian
________________________________________
From: Film-Philosophy [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Markos Hadjioannou [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, October 12, 2010 4:39 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: FILM-PHILOSOPHY new thread
Dear Bill,
I agree completely with the distinction you make between ethics and morality
- an issue that I feel I need to clarify every time I explain why I am interested in ethics and film.
I just wanted to clarify that there is a distinction in Greek between the two terms - although one that is quite contemporary in its use.
Ethics remains connected to its original root: ēthikē [ηθική];
whereas to refer to morality in a sense that is connected to good and bad as dogmatic teachings, we would use the term
ēthikologia [ηθικολογία] - the addition of the logos [λόγος] at the end thus accentuating the script that is meant to "convince" rather than discuss.
I do admit that, currently, this distinction is still just a trend amongst philosophers in Greece
(e.g. a Greek dictionary I have is still quite vague with how it marks each word).
Nevertheless, I thought it worth mentioning.
Markos.
Just a quick note to clarify things on the Greek side:
On 11 Oct 2010, at 19:40, bill harris wrote:
I would say that all of philosophy is about how we are duped by morals.
What's called 'ethics', moreover, can be said to be an inquiry into 'doing good' beyond societal commands and its covalent religious mumbo-jumbo. That's why philosophy distinguishes the two words --ostensibly of the same meaning in Greek and Latin.
Indeed, philosophers find many, diverse answers, even to the point of polemicizing over the definition: doing good (in what sense?) versus what we owe others.
Those who find nothing of substance usually drop out, hence renouncing philosophy altogether. What remains are the finders; much as you might correlate the presence of bong pipes with those who have not yet gone off of weed.
Nevertheless, several notable exceptions come to mind. Rorty's 'Mirror' mocks the philosophical projecy in its entirety, and Appiah's latest work attempts to demonstrate a indifferent correlation between held beliefs and real behavior. In other words, if ethical statements cannot be shown to positively effect outcome, they are worthless.
In Deleuzian sense, film is essentially about the morals/ethics rupture. Characters come to find their own sense or right that's to a certain extent anti-moral. As for an absolute questioning of ethics, the first example that comes to mind is a filmed version of Brecht's Dreigroschen. "When there's enough money, things normally turn out well".
BH
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