In this paper I consider how tragic film might ethically educate and I discuss three Denis Villeneuve sci-fi films. In the process I illustrate how these movies contain tragic visions that shape the ethical purposes of the main characters. To begin I discuss some core features of tragic art and I suggest that tragic films are those that offer reminder of what is of most value by providing an experience of what is most painful to lose. I thereafter summarise three different accounts of the relationship between tragic art, aesthetic value and moral education (those provided by Carroll, Rorty and Lamarque) so as to defend a more pluralistic perspective on this relationship. I argue that tragic films have potential to ethically educate audiences in a way that enhances the aesthetic value of the films in at least three ways: by deepening moral understanding, by deepening understanding of the nature of human being and ethical purpose and by deepening understanding of ethical theory. I pull the paper together by showing how the narratives in Arrival, Bladerunner 49 and Dune contain tragic dimensions of: vision informed purpose, sublime imagery, waywardness, loss and re-cognition. To conclude, I document some of the ways these movies might have potential for ethics education.

James MacAllister is a senior lecturer in philosophy of education at The University of Edinburgh. He is currently writing a monograph on tragedy, film and ethics education and co-editing a second collection on artful education and death.