ABSTRACT
Redemption and regeneration are old stories in America. The Puritans brought those concepts with them to the New World nearly four centuries ago, and in mid-nineteenth century, transcendentalists such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thoreau revivified regeneration itself into the American psyche. In the sphere of ethical discussion, the American version of the Cinema of Redemption and Levinasian ethical philosophy sustain and enlighten each other. The moral sensibility and ethical drama in these American films correspond with Emmanuel Levinas's complex ethical writings. In these films, the issues and terms that comprise the core of his ethical thought often achieve dramatic expression. The Cinema of Redemption gains moral clarity and intellectual significance when viewed through the perspectives of the Puritans and Emerson as well as the contemporary ethical philosophy of Levinas. To Simon Critchley, the creation and nurturance of genuine democratic cultures requires the transformation of contemporary politics which in turn depends upon establishing a new foundation of ethics for politics.
