| dc.description.abstract | TThis dissertation investigates how aesthetic play supports moral life, with the
Shakespeare Behind Bars (SBB) prison theater program as its centerpiece. This project
responds to the ascendancy of instrumental rationality and technological thinking in
ethical reasoning, as diagnosed by Kant, Hegel, Heidegger, and others. I argue that
moral life patterned after aesthetic play rehabilitates practical wisdom and interpretation
in our age while also cultivating our capacity to make contextualized moral judgments.
I understand aesthetic play through the heritage of Kant’s aesthetics and suggest
that play between reason and imagination teaches us to accommodate both universality
and particularity in moral judgments. The ethical potential of Kant’s third Critique is
unfolded in my analysis of Schiller and Gadamer, followed by a turn to theater studies
and field research into the SBB program.
For Kant, aesthetic judging is analogous to moral judging, and so aesthetic
experience is preparatory for moral life. For Schiller, aesthetic play unifies the rational
and sensuous aspects of human being, allowing us to realize the highest expressions of
morality and freedom. For Gadamer, aesthetic play models the way we engage with
others in all contexts. Play means engaging with others, letting them ask questions and
make demands, and responding by playing along. I suggest that these characterizations
of aesthetic play model a view of moral life that resists instrumentalization.
Acting theory after Stanislavski emphasizes truthfulness on stage and integrity to
the character. Furthermore, many theater theorists understand their work to be ethical, as theater helps us understand a broader range of possibilities for human experience. The
role of play and improvisation in theater further develops our moral aptitude to adapt and
exercise wisdom in our interactions with others. SBB demonstrates how the ethical aims
of theater can be implemented. SBB boasts a recidivism rate 60 percentage points below
the national average, suggesting that collaborative creative play might indeed transform
our character.
I conclude that aesthetic play helps us reimagine ethical life and cultivates our
capacities for good judgment, interpretation, genuine listening, and practical wisdom in
responding to a changing situation—the very moral aptitudes that calculative moral
reasoning suppresses. | en |
