Is Alex Redeemable? A Clockwork Orange as a Philosophical-Literacy Platonic Fable

This essay explores the philosophical significance of Anthony Burgess’s 1960s novel A Clockwork Orange. Specific themes in this novel are developed through character and situation, in a way which takes cognisance of important problems in the history of philosophy. The essay looks at two particular t...

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Autor principal:	Jones Irwin
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Alfredo Mac Laughlin 2021
Materias:	Philosophy (General) B1-5802 Literature (General) PN1-6790
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/27133b60597d4443870db25b6eddfdf2
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:27133b60597d4443870db25b6eddfdf22021-11-17T19:20:43ZIs Alex Redeemable? A Clockwork Orange as a Philosophical-Literacy Platonic Fable2573-881Xhttps://doaj.org/article/27133b60597d4443870db25b6eddfdf22021-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://jsfpfiles.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/037-irwin-a-clockwork-orange-as-platonic-fable.pdfhttps://doaj.org/toc/2573-881XThis essay explores the philosophical significance of Anthony Burgess’s 1960s novel A Clockwork Orange. Specific themes in this novel are developed through character and situation, in a way which takes cognisance of important problems in the history of philosophy. The essay looks at two particular themes in this context. The first relates to the epistemological question of the distinction between truth and illusion. The novel thematizes the demarcation between truth and illusion, or truth and appearance, and raises the issue of whether we can have a knowledge or epistemological foundation for such a distinction. Second, the novel addresses a question at the heart of ethics, that is, the issue of whether there is a clear distinction between good and evil. Moreover, it develops this question in relation to the further issue of the explanation for the seeming attractiveness of evil, if good is an acknowledged superior value. In the novel these questions are addressed especially through the main character of Alex, whose incarceration and rehabilitation treatment by psychiatry comes centre stage. Additionally, the text itself is adapted for film by Stanley Kubrick in 1971 and the essay explores how Kubrick’s interpretation of the original novel is distinct from that of Burgess (this difference being added to by the medium of film). Kubrick’s different interpretation nonetheless builds on the original novel and thus brings new insights in terms of the reading of the primary themes, while also complexifying the hermeneutics.Jones IrwinAlfredo Mac LaughlinarticlePhilosophy (General)B1-5802Literature (General)PN1-6790ENJournal of Science Fiction and Philosophy, Vol 4, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Philosophy (General) B1-5802 Literature (General) PN1-6790
spellingShingle	Philosophy (General) B1-5802 Literature (General) PN1-6790 Jones Irwin Is Alex Redeemable? A Clockwork Orange as a Philosophical-Literacy Platonic Fable
description	This essay explores the philosophical significance of Anthony Burgess’s 1960s novel A Clockwork Orange. Specific themes in this novel are developed through character and situation, in a way which takes cognisance of important problems in the history of philosophy. The essay looks at two particular themes in this context. The first relates to the epistemological question of the distinction between truth and illusion. The novel thematizes the demarcation between truth and illusion, or truth and appearance, and raises the issue of whether we can have a knowledge or epistemological foundation for such a distinction. Second, the novel addresses a question at the heart of ethics, that is, the issue of whether there is a clear distinction between good and evil. Moreover, it develops this question in relation to the further issue of the explanation for the seeming attractiveness of evil, if good is an acknowledged superior value. In the novel these questions are addressed especially through the main character of Alex, whose incarceration and rehabilitation treatment by psychiatry comes centre stage. Additionally, the text itself is adapted for film by Stanley Kubrick in 1971 and the essay explores how Kubrick’s interpretation of the original novel is distinct from that of Burgess (this difference being added to by the medium of film). Kubrick’s different interpretation nonetheless builds on the original novel and thus brings new insights in terms of the reading of the primary themes, while also complexifying the hermeneutics.
format	article
author	Jones Irwin
author_facet	Jones Irwin
author_sort	Jones Irwin
title	Is Alex Redeemable? A Clockwork Orange as a Philosophical-Literacy Platonic Fable
title_short	Is Alex Redeemable? A Clockwork Orange as a Philosophical-Literacy Platonic Fable
title_full	Is Alex Redeemable? A Clockwork Orange as a Philosophical-Literacy Platonic Fable
title_fullStr	Is Alex Redeemable? A Clockwork Orange as a Philosophical-Literacy Platonic Fable
title_full_unstemmed	Is Alex Redeemable? A Clockwork Orange as a Philosophical-Literacy Platonic Fable
title_sort	is alex redeemable? a clockwork orange as a philosophical-literacy platonic fable
publisher	Alfredo Mac Laughlin
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/27133b60597d4443870db25b6eddfdf2
work_keys_str_mv	AT jonesirwin isalexredeemableaclockworkorangeasaphilosophicalliteracyplatonicfable
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Is Alex Redeemable? A Clockwork Orange as a Philosophical-Literacy Platonic Fable

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