Many great philosophers have attempted to tackle the issue of ethics and, consequently, have come up with various ethical theories in order to define ethical and moral situations. In this paper, I will be summarizing a scene from the 2004, Academy Award winning film, Crash, and further analyzing it in terms of the ethical theories of Immanuel Kant. In terms of this scene, I will be arguing that Kant’s ethical theory provides a satisfactory analysis of its ethicality. One of the most memorable and dramatic scenes of the film, Crash, occurs when Ryan, a personally racist police officer, happens upon an car accident in which a woman is trapped in her overturned vehicle. The lasting impression that this scene leaves is probably the reason that I chose it to reflect on in this paper. Ryan, when taking his daily patrol, notices a line of stopped traffic, and stops to see why they are at a stand still. Up ahead, he sees smoke coming out of the engine of one car, and another flipped upside-down. He quickly runs to the car to see if anyone is trapped inside, without a thought. He sees an African-American women caught in her seatbelt and dives through the broken window and asks if she is alright. When she responds that she cannot breathe, he slides in further to try to help her unbuckle and get out; Around them, gasoline is dripping from the tank. The woman, Christine, recognizes him from earlier as the officer her sexually assaulted her in front of her husband, and screams at him to get away from her--having been scarred by their earlier encounter. He also recalls her from earlier, and realizes in this moment, that his racist and sexist actions towards Christine earlier could cost her her life. He informs her that he is the only person th... ... middle of paper ... ...both Kant’s views and the view of the law enforcement coincide, I believe that Kant’s theory is an appropriate theory in which to analyze the scene. Therefore, overall, Kant’s ethical theory provides a detailed and complete analysis of the car fire scene of Crash because it directly correlates with the beliefs of the character. And, in this instance, an analysis by Kant is not affected by the racial stereotypes of the overall film, so it is able to impartially, judge the morality of the scene. Works Cited Abel, D. C. (2012). Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Fifty Readings in Philosophy (Fourth Edition ed., pp. 347-357). New York: McGraw-Hill. Blum, L. (2011). A "Crash" Course on Personal Racism. Ethics at the Cinema (pp. 192-212). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Zack, N. (1998). Racism. Thinking About Race (pp. 38-46). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub. Co.
The basis of this paper is centered around two somewhat conflicting moral theories that aim to outline two ways of ethical thinking. The theory behind both rule consequentialism and Kantian ethics will be compared and evaluated. These theories can then be applied to a relatively complex moral case known as the “Jim and the Indians” example.
To judge one’s moral worth for his or her actions is a very important task. In the play, Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, the main character, Dr. Stockmann performs in what many would consider a good, but moral worth is not determined by someone making a 10 second analysis of the actions and determining it. In order to determine moral worth, one can use Immanuel Kant’s book, Grounding for a Metaphysics of Morals. Within this book, Kant describes how one’s actions can be determined for the purpose of moral worth. Kant goes into detail and uses the cognitive imperative and other ways to determine moral worth.
The picture Crash, produced by Robert Haggis, features the several battles confronted with the current racial stereotypes, in to a collection of numerous connected, social predicaments fall upon by the picture's multi ethnic forged. Robert Haggis uses the dialogue and physical actions of his characters to illustrate the various racial stereotypes that are pre-assigned to each race by every individual. This movie is an enchanting bodily melodrama that reaches the feelings of spirits and its crowd's minds. Several of the components given by Haggis in this movie are impersonated in intense sets. This design of reversing is communicated opposed figures and by his character, the picture's possibly nighttime or daytime environment, and additionally in the hearth and snowfall moments. In this movie, the varied functions performed by the several contests of contemporary America are revealed to the globe by Haggis. Through coldly racial difficulties confronted by his figures, an intentionally affecting movie that drives his crowd to challenge their own ethical principles is created by Haggis. Each contest is signified through the picture and coldly exhibits ethnocentrism and racialism. Paul Haggis incorporates the use of identification, parallel plots, reaction shots, point-of-view shots, shot/reverse shots, diegetic music, and post-modern film in the film. Through his character development, editing and special effects we are drawn into.
In the end, Patrick turns Doyle over to the authorities, and the little girl is returned to her mother. Who is moral in this situation? Patrick or a Doyle? Patrick is a perfect example of Kant’s standard for morality by his actions and duty. In this essay, Kant’s theory will be explained and then applied to the actions of both Patrick and Doyle.
Kant’s moral philosophy is built around the formal principles of ethics rather than substantive human goods. He begins by outlining the principles of reasoning that can be equally expected of all rational persons regardless of their individual desires or partial interests. It creates an ideal universal community of rational individuals who can collectively agree on the moral principles for guiding equality and autonomy. This is what forms the basis for contemporary human rig...
Tension between the African Americans and Caucasians have been present in America since slavery. In the movie Crash (2004), race and culture are major themes that can be seen in the lives of the characters in the film. One character in particular, Cameron, a prestigious color vision director, displays the friction between two cultures. He belongs to the educated, upper class of the Los Angeles area. He is also an African American, yet he seems to have no ties with that class. He has a light-skinned wife, attends award shows, and it appears that his acquaintances are predominately white. When he and his wife, Christine, get pulled over by a racist cop, he experiences emotions of powerlessness and helplessness that he never knew he would experience due to his upbringing and place in society. Cameron goes through a radical transformation where he comes to grips with his background and how he fits into these two clashing cultures.
As a fan of cinema, I was excited to do this project on what I had remembered as a touching portrait of racism in our modern society. Writer/Director Paul Haggis deliberately depicts his characters in Crash within the context of many typical ethnic stereotypes that exist in our world today -- a "gangbanger" Latino with a shaved head and tattoos, an upper-class white woman who is discomforted by the sight of two young Black kids, and so on -- and causes them to rethink their own prejudices during their "crash moment" when they realize the racism that exists within themselves. This movie does provoke a dialogue on race that, according to author and journalist Jeff Chang, "has been anathema to Hollywood after 9/11. " During the first viewing of this movie, the emotionally charged themes of prejudice and racism are easy to get caught up in. (125) Privilege is inclined to white males through every facet of our everyday lives that inconspicuously creates racism through classism.
Today in society we see racism is okay in a lot of ways because we act like is normal for society and we do not do anything to help or make our voice heard,but we expect one day that it might change. Racism means discrimination or antagonism directed against someone of a different race, which in “Crash,” it shows all antagonism to people that are different .In the movie Crash, directed by Paul Haggis, the author develops the central idea that you never know what your actions will produce. “Crash” is a movie that focuses on the narrator’s message that we all have prejudices, and also that we all need to realize that we cannot judge people by those prejudices because the same people that we pre-judge may actually be the people we need in our lives. The narrator experiences the conflicting emotions with
Crash is a movie based over a day and a half in Los Angeles. It is an overview of a group desperate people 's lives overlapping as the deal with tense situations such as race and privilege that accompanies city life. One of the main characters is the white district attorney who uses his political prowess to step on other races; his wife who was recently carjacked
His theory is based on one’s judgment rather than what the society considers right or wrong. Kant bases his theory on the rightness or wrongness of a deed rather than the consequences that follow the act. He explains that people need not follow the rules blindly just for the results, but carefully consider the morality of the actions themselves.
People face ethical choices every day, and there are several different approaches towards reaching a decision. A professor is tasked with making a decision as to whether he should report a high-achieving student, Charlie, for plagiarizing an article. The professor must use reasoning and ethics. One of the most famous form of ethics is Kantian ethics, which is a form of deontology, or duty-based ethics. The professor can use Kantian ethics to make his decision, or he can take into account the context of the situation to further asses as I would do.
We crash constantly. We crash into the cultures and lives of those that surround us in our society. We judge because we do not know or unwilling to understand the differences that surround us. The director wants the audience to make an unfair judgment on Officer Ryan because of he inappropriately searches Christine, however, as the movie progresses our judgments crashes as we begin to identify with Officer Ryan. When Graham states ?We are always behind metal and glass,? it is not the metal and glass we are behind, but the fear of understanding and trusting someone that is different from us. This fear is where our preconceived notions and racist habits come from. It is the fear of trusting that in which can cause us to crash.
Ethics can be defined as "the conscious reflection on our moral beliefs with the aim of improving, extending or refining those beliefs in some way." (Dodds, Lecture 2) Kantian moral theory and Utilitarianism are two theories that attempt to answer the ethical nature of human beings. This paper will attempt to explain how and why Kantian moral theory and Utilitarianism differ as well as discuss why I believe Kant's theory provides a more plausible account of ethics.
‘Kantian Ethics’ in [EBQ] James P Sterba (ed) Ethics: the Big Questions, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998, 185-198. 2) Kant, Immanuel. ‘Morality and Rationality’ in [MPS] 410-429. 3) Rachel, James. The Elements of Moral Philosophy, fourth edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003.
Immanuel Kant’s ethical theory is referred to as deontology, which is where one acts according to one’s principle. He believes that the will has ethical priority over the body and soul. The only way a will is a good will is to the extent that the person acts from a sense of duty and functions with reason. By determining what is good, Kant uses categorical imperative in order to help in ethical deliberation.