Casablanca Kant and Mill

The motion picture Casablanca opens during the beginning of WWII. The setting is Casablanca, a town in unoccupied French Morocco. During WWII and the Nazi occupation of much of Europe, people fled Europe to Africa, where the Nazis had not yet reached. The town appears to be a vacation destination, yet this not the case. Within the first minutes of the film, a man is for running from the authority after he is discovered to have expired papers.

The majority of the film takes place in Rick’s Café American, a “gin-joint” with gambling and entertainment. The café seems to function as a place where people can collaborate and trade currency for papers to leave the country to America or wherever they want. Underneath the mellow drama, the excessive amount of alcohol consumption, and the subtle sexuality, Casablanca is a film about something much deeper. This film is about the triumph of good over evil. This essay will address a few of the main characters and their relationship to one another while displaying the underlying morals of both Emmanuel Kant’s Deontology and John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism.

Ethical Synopsis

Deontology or the categorical imperative states that morality is not dependent upon whether or not one cares about a particular idea. Rachels and Rachels uses the example of Kant’s work in that one should help people, period; not if they like the person or desire to help him or her (2012). It is of a moral absolute that one should help another person, leaving no gray area to be found. The same could be said of lying; at no time should one lie to another person, period (2012). Differently, Sommers and Sommers show Mill’s idea of Utilitarianism as that right actions are ones that promote happiness and reduce unhappiness (2013). This is further explained that one would often choose the higher faculties of happiness as opposed to the lower (e.g., listening to music instead of transforming into swine) (2013). The authors attempt to convey that in pursuing happiness and reducing unhappiness, one will in right actions.

Plot and Ethical Results

While in the café, a Nazi major arrives to witness the arrest of a person accused of murder. Before he is arrested, Ugarte, the suspect, hands letters off to Rick (the café owner), for safe keeping. Once the authority in Casablanca moves to arrest him, Rick, does nothing to interfere with the arrest of the suspect, reaffirming his neutral position and self-centered attitude. Although underneath this gesture, Rick seems to display a desire for justice to be served; however not necessarily in the way the authorities administer it.

After the arrest, Ilsa, Rick’s former lover in Paris, and her husband arrive at Rick’s café. Shocked by the arrival, Rick attempts to compose himself in public maintaining his harsh facade. During their interaction, Captain Renault, the