Shakespeare and Communitarian Ethics

Dr. Christopher Crosbie is a Professor of English at NCSU whose research uniquely focuses on the intersection of philosophy and early modern drama, particularly Shakespeare. He is the winner of a Martin Stevens Award from the Medieval and Renaissance Drama Society and the J. Leeds Barroll Dissertation Prize from the Shakespeare Association of America. He is currently working on a book entitled Shakespeare and the Communitarian Ethics of Intention. In this talk, Dr. Crosbie will discuss how Shakespearean drama works as a kind of laboratory for doing collective ethical thinking and how it helps shape communal identities and moral commitments. Shakespeare’s age has often been characterized as an era rife with suspicion and anxiety toward the unknown minds of others, a world where ill-intent, even treason, lurks just beyond view and warrants continual vigilance. By turning to communitarian philosophy, this talk will recover the Shakespearean stage’s crucial role in offeri…