Flight, Emmanuel Levinas, and the Critique of Theodicy

This article analyzes the 2012 Paramount Pictures film Flight for the various theodicies that the film presents. It does so alongside the twentieth-century philosopher Emmanuel Levinas's critique of theodicy and suggests that Flight provides illustrations of what Levinas sees as the problem wit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion and popular culture
Main Author: Fleming, Daniel J. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Saskatchewan [2016]
In: Journal of religion and popular culture
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Flight / Theodicy / Lévinas, Emmanuel 1906-1995, Totalité et infini / Lévinas, Emmanuel 1906-1995, Autrement qu'être ou au-delà de l'essence
IxTheo Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
CD Christianity and Culture
NBC Doctrine of God
Further subjects:B Emmanuel Levinas
B Theodicy
B Religion
B Responsibility
B Philosophy
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:This article analyzes the 2012 Paramount Pictures film Flight for the various theodicies that the film presents. It does so alongside the twentieth-century philosopher Emmanuel Levinas's critique of theodicy and suggests that Flight provides illustrations of what Levinas sees as the problem with theodicies, namely that they work to relativize the unconditional call to responsibility that sits at the heart of human consciousness. The article analyzes such examples in detail and does so alongside a presentation of Levinas's philosophy and his critiques of theodicy. Furthermore, the article suggests that the closing scenes of Flight present what is a moment of anti-theodicy, according to the philosophy of Levinas, whereby the main character embraces his responsibility and thereby exemplifies an ethical freedom. Readers of this article should note that it deals with all of the aspects of the film's plot and so will spoil the ending for anyone who has not seen it.
ISSN:1703-289X
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of religion and popular culture
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.3138/jrpc.28.1.3150