Abstract

This text will analyze the sheriffs from two conflictive and classical western films, High Noon and Rio Bravo. Through this analysis, it will show that the discussion between them is not, as is usually argued, about how a sheriff should react when facing danger but about what makes a good sheriff a really good sheriff: acting for the sake of duty or for the sake of virtue. Thus, this analysis will show that the sheriff of High Noon is a perfect Kantian moral agent while the one in Rio Bravo is a perfect Aristotelian moral agent. The discussion between them, then, can be understood as the discussion between deontological and virtues ethics.

Keywords sheriff | westerns | duty | virtue | ethics conceptions | practical philosophy teaching