Screen Stories And Moral Understanding

"The introduction argues for the importance of screen stories in relation to moral understanding, first discussing the fundamental role of storytelling in human cultures, then moving into the specific nature of moving image narratives and the institutional contexts in which they are seen. The introduction also discusses the interdisciplinary nature of the book, with its chapters coming from scholars representing various disciplines and their methodologies and terminologies. It identifies and discusses aesthetic cognitivism, the idea that one benefit of the arts is the cognitive benefits they provide. In this case the cognitive benefit in question is moral understanding. Last, the introduction surveys the outline of the book, with its sections on the nature of moral understanding, transfer and cultivation, affect, character engagement, and the reflective afterlife of screen stories"--

Screen Stories and Moral Understanding considers the place of movies, streamed series, and television in the lives of viewers, paying particular attention to their role in leading to moral rumination and learning. The book considers how screen stories can transfer knowledge and cultivate sensibilities and responses. It shows how the affective responses of viewers and viewers' psychological relationships with fictional characters figure into the influence of narrative. It also describes the means by which institutions encourage and direct reflection on screen stories after the viewing has ended.

The way we communicate with each other is vital to preserving the cultural ecology, or wellbeing, of a place and time. Do we listen to each other? Do we ask the right questions? Do we speak about each other with respect or disdain? The stories that we convey on screens, or what author Carl Plantinga calls 'screen stories,' are one powerful and pervasive means by which we communicate with each other. Screen Stories: Emotion and the Ethics of Engagement argues that film and media studies needs to move toward an an approach to ethics that is more appropriate for mass consumer culture and the lives of its citizens. Primarily concerned with the relationship between media and viewers, this book considers ethical criticism and the emotional power of screen stories that makes such criticism necessary. The content we consume--from television shows and movies to advertisements--can significantly affect our welfare on a personal and societal level, and thus, this content is subject to praise and celebration, or questioning and even condemnation. The types of screen stories that circulate contribute to the cultural ecology of a time and place; through shared attention they influence what individuals think and feel. Plantinga develops a theory of the power of screen stories to affect both individuals and cultures, asserting that we can better respond ethically to such media if we understand the sources of its influence on us.

The way we communicate with each other is vital to preserving the cultural ecology, or wellbeing, of a place and time. Do we listen to each other? Do we ask the right questions? Do we speak about each other with respect or disdain? The stories that we convey on screens, or what author Carl Plantinga calls 'screen stories,' are one powerful and pervasive means by which we communicate with each other. Screen Stories: Emotion and the Ethics of Engagement argues that film and media studies needs to move toward an an approach to ethics that is more appropriate for mass consumer culture and the lives of its citizens. Primarily concerned with the relationship between media and viewers, this book considers ethical criticism and the emotional power of screen stories that makes such criticism necessary. The content we consume--from television shows and movies to advertisements--can significantly affect our welfare on a personal and societal level, and thus, this content is subject to praise and celebration, or questioning and even condemnation. The types of screen stories that circulate contribute to the cultural ecology of a time and place; through shared attention they influence what individuals think and feel. Plantinga develops a theory of the power of screen stories to affect both individuals and cultures, asserting that we can better respond ethically to such media if we understand the sources of its influence on us.

The media informs, entertains, and connects us. It is woven into the fabric of politics. Its increasing immediacy has become an inescapable feature of almost everybody’s life. We are, at the same time, subject to the media and participants in it. The ethical questions it raises have never been more urgent. Trust is in short supply, but we need to share information while dealing with problems like misinformation, disinformation, and echo chambers. And what responsibilities fall on the state, and on other actors such as artists, advertisers, and social media users, as we reckon with endemic problems like racism, sexism, and classism? The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Media Ethics is an outstanding survey and assessment of this vitally important field. Comprising thirty chapters written by an international team of contributors, the Handbook is divided into five parts: Freedom of Speech, Privacy, and Censorship The News Media Broadening the Scope: Giving Other Aspects of the Media their Due Justice, Power, and Representation Vice and Virtue Online The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy and Media Ethics is essential reading for students and researchers in philosophy, media and communication studies, politics, and law, as well as practising media professionals and journalists.

Cognitive Film and Media Ethics provides a grounding in the use of cognitive science to address key questions in film, television and screen media ethics. This book extends past works in cognitive media studies to answer normative and ethically prescriptive questions: what could make media morally good or bad, and what, then, are the respective responsibilities of media producers and consumers? Moss-Wellington makes a primary claim that normative propositions are a kind of rigour, in that they force media theorists to draw more active ought conclusions from descriptive is arguments. Cognitive Film and Media Ethics presents the rigours of normative reasoning, cognitive science and consequentialist ethics as complementary, arguing that each seeks progressive elaboration on their own models of causality, and causal projections are crucial for any reflection on our moral responsibilities in the world. A hermeneutics of ethical cognitivism is applied in the latter half of the book, with essays each addressing a different case study in film, television, news and social media: cinema that sets out to inspire moral dissonance in the viewer, satirical and humorous depictions of family drama in film and television, the politics of the romantic comedy, formal aspects of screen media bullying in an era dubbed the television renaissance, and contemporary problems in the conflation of news and social media. Cognitive Film and Media Ethics synthesises current research in social psychology, anthropology, memory studies, emotion and cognition, personality and media selection, and evolutionary biology, integrating wide-ranging concepts from the various disciplines that make up cognitive theory to provide new vantages on the applied ethics of film and screen media.

Characters are central to our experiences of screened fictions and invite a host of questions. The contributors to Screening Characters draw on archival material, interviews, philosophical inquiry, and conceptual analysis in order to give new, thought-provoking answers to these queries. Providing multifaceted accounts of the nature of screen characters, contributions are organized around a series of important subjects, including issues of class, race, ethics, and generic types as they are encountered in moving image media. These topics, in turn, are personified by such memorable figures as Cary Grant, Jon Hamm, Audrey Hepburn, and Seul-gi Kim, in addition to avatars, online personalities, animated characters, and the ensembles of shows such as The Sopranos, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad.

For well over a century, going to the movies has been a favorite pastime for billions across the globe. But is film actually good for anything? This volume brings together thirty-six scholars, critics, and filmmakers in search of an answer. Their responses range from the most personal to the most theoretical--and, together, recast current debates about film ethics. Movie watching here emerges as a wellspring of value, able to sustain countless visions of "the good life." Films, these authors affirm, make us reflect, connect, adapt; they evoke wonder and beauty; they challenge and transform. In a word, its varieties of value make film invaluable.