Sissela Bok ("A philosopher whose learning is immense and whose range of reference is wide."-The
New York Times Book Review) is Distinguished Fellow at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies.
She frequently comments on ethical issues in government, media, and public life. Her books include Lying: Moral
Choice in Public and Private Life, Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation, and Alva Myrdal:
A Daughter's Memoir.
Summary
What is the effect of long-term media violence on our national character? Do we want four-year-olds watching
slasher films? Who should decide? While almost everyone has a strong opinion about the profusion of violence-in
film, TV, video games, and on line-paralysis sets in when it comes to action. The issue is seen as a hopeless standoff
between free speech and preserving public morality. In Mayhem, Sissela Bok reframes the issue. She shows
us that we have created a false dilemma and that we need not feel so helpless.
Mayhem lays out the arguments and weighs the evidence on each side: the desensitization, fear, and addiction
that concern psychologists, pediatricians, and religious groups on the one hand, and, on the other, the threat
of censorship invoked by journalists, civil libertarians, and the entertainment industry. The book gives a vivid
historical overview of the debate: from Rome, to nineteenth-century attempts to ban all theater, to censorship
of the Internet in Singapore and China, and contrasting views of figures as diverse as Martin Scorsese, Bill Moyers,
and Judge Bork.
As in Lying and Secrets, she puts this thorny question in clarifying perspective, and shows how our ways
of dealing with it not only express, but can shape our character and lives. Finally, she takes up specific and
imaginative ways to resolve the dilemma, from private measures for individuals and families to large-scale collective
efforts.
"Brief, nimble, wide-ranging and even handed ... on a subject that often provokes hysterical warnings or cavalier
dismissals.... Learned and lucid."
--New York Times Book Review
"With the exemplary care and judiciousness for which she is renowned, Sissela Bok probes the vexed topic
of entertainment violence. Her analysis is unflinching; her pointed recommendations provide grounds for hope."
