Records of Anguish: Democracy, Dirty Hands, and the Myth of the Tragic Politician

Document
Document

This thesis examines common approaches to political action and moral responsibility in order to identify a particular narrative of dirty hands, through which we conceptualize the particular moral burdens of the political sphere. Studying this narrative as it manifests in political fiction and the American drone program under the Obama administration, the thesis argues that the dirty hands narrative is compelling but fundamentally antidemocratic in its focus on the isolated, anguished conscience of a single leader.

    Item Description
    Name(s)
    Thesis advisor: Moon, J. Donald
    Date
    April 15, 2015
    Extent
    245 pages
    Language
    eng
    Genre
    Physical Form
    electronic
    Discipline
    Rights and Use
    In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted
    Digital Collection
    PID
    ir:1000