The Value of Cities of Words. Cavell on Perfectionism, Films, and TV Series

This essay is inspired by Stanley Cavell’s attempt to renew, and to a certain extent redefine, the tradition of moral perfectionism lies his conviction that perfectionist attitudes are both constitutive of one aspect of philosophy, the one (that is) turned toward the knowledge of the self, and necessary for the survival of democratic societies. His work on Hollywood comedies and melodramas speaks directly to how intertwined personal change and democratic aspirations are in his view and to the philosophical and pedagogical value he credits popular films with. The claim of the essay is that contemporary TV series deserve the same philosophical attention that films have received and, subsequently, that Cavell’s ideas about what binds perfectionist quests for personal change and democracy are crucial in the present cultural and political landscape. The West Wing series is taken as an example