ABSTRACT
The relation of art to ethics has been at the forefront of several recent controversies about art: the dispute over Robert Mapplethorpe’s homoerotic photographs; the protests over the sexism and violence seemingly advocated in the music of ‘gangsta’ rappers such as Ice-T; the controversy over the violence of many Hollywood movies, such as Natural Born Killers; and the fatwah declared against Salman Rushdie for publishing The Satanic Verses. Those who think of art as a kind of pleasant and harmless pastime might do well to reflect on these disputes: popular passions have raged, law suits have been threatened, criminal proceedings have been enacted, and a death-sentence has been promulgated. Art has real power: power to disturb, power to pummel against the bulwarks of our ethical convictions.
