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Damned If You Do: Dilemmas of Action in Literature and Popular Culture
Author(s): Margaret S. Hrezo (Editor), John M. Parrish
- Publisher: Lexington Books (UK)
- Publication Date: 18 Mar. 2010
- Language: English
- Print length: 230 pages
- ISBN-10: 0739138138
- ISBN-13: 9780739138137
Book Description
Problems of individual moral choice have always been closely bound up with the larger normative concerns of political theory. There are several reasons for this continuing connection. First, the value conflicts involved in private moral choice often find themselves reproduced on the public stage: for example, states may find it difficult to do right by both justice and mercy in much the same way individuals do. Second, we frequently find conflicts among the values at stake in individual life and public life, such that the moral choice we must make is between private and public goods. Loosely speaking, choices which express these conflicts are what philosophers call moral dilemmas: choices in which no matter what one does one will be forfeiting some important moral good; in which wrongdoing is to some degree inescapable; in which one is (perhaps literally) damned if one does and damned if one doesnt.
The eight essays collected in this volume explore the philosophical problem of moral dilemmas as that problem finds expression in ancient drama, classic and contemporary novels, television, film, and popular fiction. They consider four main types of dilemmas. In the first section, the authors examine dilemmas associated with political stability and regime change as expressed in the HBO television series
Deadwood and in Stephen Kings novels and short stories. The second section confronts dilemmas associated with public leadership, considering the ethical conflicts in Aeschyluss classical dramas The Suppliants, Tolkiens Lord of the Rings, and in the contemporary FOX television series 24. In the volumes third section, the authors examine dilemmas of institutional evil, specifically slavery, as they emerge in Harriet Beecher Stowes classic novel Uncle Toms Cabin and in J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter novels. Finally, the collection considers dilemmas of community and choice in Toni Morrisons novel Paradise and in the contemporary film A Simple Plan.Editorial Reviews
Review
Damned If You Do brings together thoughtful essays on the range of narrative arts―poetry, drama, and the novel, but also television, film, and popular culture―in order to examine the moral dilemmas that confront us. The authors of these essays beautifully illuminate the sometimes inescapable and irresolvable conflicts of the human condition and reflect on the challenges they pose to political life. As a collection, Damned If You Do smartly demonstrates the importance of the narrative arts to the study of politics. — Natalie Fuehrer Taylor, Skidmore College
About the Author
Susan McWilliams Barndt is chair and associate professor of the Department of Politics at Pomona College.
Travis D. Smith is associate professor of the Department of Political Science at Concordia University.
