Ethics

De Soignie

Name of Student: Mabel De Soignie

Course: PHI 1600

Instructor Name: Daylen Elosegui

Date: 04/07/2021

Gone Baby Gone

The film 'Gone Baby Gone' is a neo-noir Hollywood film expressing crime with dark humor. The film was released in 2007. In the plot of the movie, a four-year-old girl Amanda is kidnaped in Boston. The girl's uncle and aunt think a detective can handle this case better than the police. They appoint a private investigator Patrick Kenzieto to find the girl. Amanda's mother is a drug addict and has stolen the money of a drug dealer. After 76 hours, the police chief Doyle thinks Patrick can't find the missing girl. Patrick suspects molester Corwin Earle and Haitian gangster Cheese for kidnapping. He also considers the major threat could be closer to her home. But Patrick found the police officer Doyle has kidnaped Amanda. The film is a police story styled into evils and ethics. A fine line is made between a 'universal crime' and 'ethical mistake.' The movie’s key moral is symbolize by Patrick’s character.

The film is considered as a substantial evaluation of mortality in concern of kidnapping. We may not choose what is good and morally correct in the movie. It is explained in terms of Kant's doctrine. Kant's philosophy of morality explains the good and evil of an act are not dependent on the result of the actions(Carter). According to the philosophy, moral values are categorical imperatives, i.e., the actions are not independent of any desire or end. Kant's philosophy does not support the utilitarian theory. The bad will may:

1. Harm the talent of mind

2. Impact the qualities of temperament

3. Affect the gifts of fortune

These three premises are applied in the end scene when Patrick meets police Chief Doyle and found the drug dealers and the complete police department is involved in the kidnapping (Gone Baby Gone, 1hr 36min-1hr 45min).

1st Premise: The police department plot Amanda lives better with Doyle and his wife than her mother. Doyle considers kidnapping was good for Amanda. In terms of Kant's philosophy, how something immoral and illegal is considered right. Doyle thinks it will result in a happier outcome.

2ndPremise: Moreover, Doyle said, 'I arranged to abduct for the sake of Amanda, if she lives with her mother, she will choose the similar path for Amanda. Patrick's response to this dialogue supports the Kant philosophy of analyzing the motivation of actions.

3rdPremise: Patrick said if you provide emotional and financial support to the child, it will promote trust in the child, and she may evaluate that her family cheated on her.

Michael Sandel’s philosophy is the third main approach to moral values. This approach disintegrates the complicated Kant philosophy by explaining Kant's main contrast to developing this theory. The first contrast is welfare; everyone has basic rights and responsibilities. The second is freedom; mortality is independent of consequences. The third is a virtue, taking action just because it is right. Patrick’s decision supports Sandel's philosophy in the film. He said, doing wrong things (kidnapping) with expectations of moral worth (for the girl's sake) is not right. It is better to do the right thing with no moral worth (Justice).

Work Cited

Affleck, Ben. Gone Baby Gone. 2007. United States: Miramax.

Gone Baby Gone. (2007) Retrieved from: https://www.netflix.com/ca/title/70065115

Johnson, Robert, and Adam Cureton. “Kant's Moral Philosophy.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 7 July 2016, plato.stanford.edu/entries/kant-moral/.