The Philosophy of the Western

by Mcmahon, Jennifer L.; Csaki, B. Steve

• ISBN13: 9780813125916
• ISBN10: 081312591X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-06-11
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky

Summary

The western is arguably the most iconic and influential genre in American cinema. The solitude of the lone rider, the loyalty of his horse, and the unspoken code of the West render the genre popular yet lead it to offer a view of America's history that is sometimes inaccurate. For many, the western embodies America and its values. In recent years, scholars had declared the western genre dead, but a steady resurgence of western themes in literature, film, and television has reestablished the genre as one of the most important.In The Philosophy of the Western, editors Jennifer L. McMahon and B. Steve Csaki examine philosophical themes in the western genre. Investigating subjects of nature, ethics, identity, gender, environmentalism, and animal rights, the essays draw from a wide range of westerns including the recent popular and critical successes Unforgiven (1992), All the Pretty Horses (2000), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), and No Country for Old Men (2007), as well as literature and television serials such as Deadwood. The Philosophy of the Western reveals the influence of the western on the American psyche, filling a void in the current scholarship of the genre.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Philosophy and the Western	p. 1
The Cowboy Way: The Essence of the Western Hero
"Do Not Forsake Me, Oh, My Darling": Loneliness and Solitude in Westerns	p. 13
Civilization and Its Discontents: The Self-Sufficient Western Hero	p. 31
Mommas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Pragmatists	p. 55
Two Ways to Yuma: Locke, Liberalism, and Western Masculinity in 3:10 to Yuma	p. 69
Landscapes of Gendered Violence: Male Love and Anxiety on the Railroad	p. 89
The Code of the West: The Cowboy and Society
"Order Out of the Mud": Deadwood and the State of Nature	p. 113
Order without Law: The Magnificent Seven, East and West	p. 139
From Dollars to Iron: The Currency of Clint Eastwood's Westerns	p. 149
The Duty of Reason: Kantian Ethics in High Noon	p. 171
Outlaws: Challenging Conventions of the Western
The Cost of the Code: Ethical Consequences in High Noon and The Ox-Bow Incident	p. 187
"Back Off to What?" The Search for Meaning in The Wild Bunch	p. 203
No Country for Old Men: The Decline of Ethics and the West(ern)	p. 221
The Northwestern: McCabe and Mrs. Miller	p. 241
On the Fringe: The Encounter with the Other
Savage Nations: Native Americans and the Western	p. 261
Regeneration through Stories and Song: The View from the Other Side of the West in Smoke Signals	p. 291
Go West, Young Woman! Hegel's Dialectic and Women's Identities in Western Films	p. 309
Beating a Live Horse: The Elevation and Degradation of Horses in Westerns	p. 329
Selected Bibliography	p. 351
List of Contributors	p. 355
Index	p. 359
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