People are often curious about, intrigued, and even entertained by stories of human suffering. But while we tend to think that fictions such as murder mysteries and ghost stories are morally innocuous, the closer such tales come to focusing on real events, the more reasonable it can seem to raise moral concerns. What exactly is it about the shift from the fictional to the actual that generates these objections? In this talk, I look at two such genres of interest, true crime and dark tourism, and consider how their similarities and differences can shed light on the ethics of grim fascination more broadly. In particular, I consider whether the truth of events can, contrary to the intuition suggested earlier, sometimes operate as a bulwark against moral criticism.

About the Speaker

Erich Hatala Matthes is Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy and Advisory Faculty for Environmental Studies at Wellesley College, where he has taught for over a decade. His research and teaching focus on the ethics, politics, and aesthetics of art, cultural heritage, and the environment. He is the author of What to Save and Why: Identity, Authenticity, and the Ethics of Conservation (OUP, 2024) and Drawing the Line: What to Do with the Work of Immoral Artists from Museums to the Movies (OUP, 2022).