Political Philosophy Comes to Rick's : Casablanca and American Civic Culture

Political Philosophy Comes to Rick's focuses on reading one of the world's most watched films, Casablanca, politically. Contributors contend that the popularity of the film lies in its ability to present American civic culture, the American character, if you will, in a thoughtful, dramatic, and enduring way.

Casablanca is a movie about love and loss, virtue and vice, good and evil, duty and treachery, courage and weakness, friendship and hate. It is a story that ends well, but only because the main characters make a heartbreaking choice. Casablanca is perhaps the most widely viewed motion picture ever made, often finishing on critics'' lists second only to Citizen Kane. What accounts for its continuing popularity? What chord does it strike with audiences? What lesson does Casablanca teach Americans about themselves? What influence does popular culture have on public mores? The contributors to Political Philosophy Comes to Rick''s take up these questions, finding that Casablanca raises many of the most important issues of political philosophy. Perhaps Casablanca has an enduring quality because it, like political philosophy, raises questions of human life - the nature of love, friendship, courage, honor, responsibility, and justice.