Abstract
The three seasons of True Detective (HBO, Nic Pizzolatto 2014–19), especially
season 1 (2014), were celebrated for their historical realism, moral complexity,
and addressing of social themes. But they are also exemplary televisual
explorations of the varieties of scepticism that morally engaged crime dramas
are well placed to examine. Drawing on Stanley Cavell’s philosophical engagement with epistemic and moral scepticism in relation to cinema, I extend
this approach to the television crime drama, taking True Detective as my
philosophical case study. Pizzolatto’s existentially slanted series explores not
only epistemic and moral scepticism but also what we might call existential
scepticism—a thoroughgoing questioning of the contemporary bases of social
existence extending to institutions of law and order, the family, religious
belief, morality, love, and the possibility of transcendence.
season 1 (2014), were celebrated for their historical realism, moral complexity,
and addressing of social themes. But they are also exemplary televisual
explorations of the varieties of scepticism that morally engaged crime dramas
are well placed to examine. Drawing on Stanley Cavell’s philosophical engagement with epistemic and moral scepticism in relation to cinema, I extend
this approach to the television crime drama, taking True Detective as my
philosophical case study. Pizzolatto’s existentially slanted series explores not
only epistemic and moral scepticism but also what we might call existential
scepticism—a thoroughgoing questioning of the contemporary bases of social
existence extending to institutions of law and order, the family, religious
belief, morality, love, and the possibility of transcendence.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Television with Stanley Cavell in mind |
| Editors | David LaRocca, Sandra Laugier |
| Place of Publication | Exeter, UK |
| Publisher | University of Exeter Press |
| Chapter | 15 |
| Pages | 305-324 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781804130193, 9781804130209 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781804130186 |
| Publication status | Published - 2023 |