The Philosophy of Clint Eastwood

275 Pages·2014·1.66 MB·English

by  Richard T. McClelland

The PhilosoPhy of ClinT easTwood

The PhilosoPhy of
ClinT
easTwood
Edited by
Richard T. McClelland
and
Brian B. Clayton
Copyright © 2014 by The University Press of Kentucky
Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre College of Kentucky,
Eastern Kentucky University, The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College,
Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University, Morehead State
University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania
University, University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, and Western
Kentucky University.
All rights reserved.
Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com
18 17 16 15 14 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The philosophy of Clint Eastwood / edited by Richard T. McClelland and Brian
B. Clayton.
pages cm. — (The philosophy of popular culture)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8131-4263-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8131-4264-7 (pdf) —
ISBN 978-0-8131-4265-4 (epub)
1. Eastwood, Clint, 1930—Criticism and interpretation. I. McClelland, Richard
T., 1947- editor of compilation.
PN2287.E37P48 2014
792.02’8092—dc23 2013039727
This book is printed on acid-free paper meeting
the requirements of the American National Standard
for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Member of the Association of
American University Presses
To Roger Ebert (1942–2013),
film critic par excellence

C
ontents
Introduction: Eastwood as Philosopher 1
Richard T. McClelland and Brian B. Clayton
From Solitary Individualism to Post-Christian Stoic Existentialism:
Quests for Community, Moral Agency, and Transcendence in the Films
of Clint Eastwood 13
David H. Calhoun
Hereafter and the Problems of Evil: Clint Eastwood as Practical
Philosopher 41
Brian B. Clayton
The Smile and the Spit: The Motivational Polarity and Self-Reliance
Portrayed in The Outlaw Josey Wales and the Dollars Trilogy 61
James R. Couch
The Representation of Justice in Eastwood’s High Plains Drifter 77
Erin E. Flynn
Bad Men at Play: On the Banality of Goodness in Unforgiven 95
Richard Gilmore
Aristotle, Eastwood, Friendship, and Death 111
Jason Grinnell
Giving up the Gun: Violence in the Films of Clint Eastwood 131
Karen D. Hoffman
Eastwood, Romance, Tragedy 157
Deborah Knight and George McKnight
The Use of Silence in Hereafter: A Study in Neurocinematics 175
Richard T. McClelland
The Mortal Hero: Two Inductions on the Meaning of Loss 191
Richard T. McClelland
Eastwood’s Dream: The Philosophy of Absence in Hereafter 213
Douglas McFarland
Desperate Times Call for Existential Heroes: Eastwood’s Gran Torino
and Camus’s The Plague 229
Jennifer L. McMahon
Acknowledgments 249
List of Contributors 251
Index 255
I
ntroduCtIon
Eastwood as Philosopher
Richard T. McClelland and Brian B. Clayton
It is easy to forget that philosophy has not always been practiced as it com-
monly is today. Most philosophers working today (and over the last couple
of centuries) have been academics, usually in universities. There they teach,
do research, write for publication, gather to present at professional meetings,
and the like. Professional journals and monograph series are often sponsored
by university departments, and conferences of all kinds commonly convene
on university campuses worldwide. Most philosophers these days possess
advanced degrees from universities (though increasingly such degrees do
not ensure employment in academic positions). Considered in terms of these
traditions of professional formation and deployment, there is ample reason
to doubt that Clint Eastwood could plausibly be taken to be a philosopher
or to be doing the work of a philosopher in his filmmaking (as actor, direc-
tor, producer, and/or musician). After all, he does not possess an advanced
degree in philosophy (or any closely related discipline), he does not work
in an academic institution, he does not present his own creative work in the
usual venues that philosophers use. Nevertheless, it is our view that East-
wood is doing substantial philosophical work in and by means of his films.
It is the purpose of this introduction to say what we mean by this claim. In
doing so we also wish to direct our readers toward the specific essays that
make up this volume and some of their distinctive themes. It may be, also,
that our notion of practical philosophy (which is what we think Eastwood
is doing) will have application elsewhere in the arts and sciences.
One reason for thinking that Eastwood might be philosophizing in his
creative work is almost purely negative. Philosophy has not always been
practiced as it is today. Indeed, throughout most of its long history it was
not. In the ancient world most philosophers (including the few women
1