Volume 26, 2022
Lorraine K. C. Yeung
Pages 41-53
https://doi.org/10.5840/filmphil20218107
Which Way Down the Slippery Slope: Arkangel or Digital Pacifier?
The Black Mirror episode ¡°Arkangel¡± tells a disturbing story of over-parenting driven by technology. The single mother Marie¡¯s adoption of the Arkangel system has invited overwhelmingly negative moral evaluation from philosophers. But what accounts for the moral failure of a loving and concerned parent? Is it all about her flawed character, or are there situational factors at work? In the article, I first foreground the slipperiness of technology implicated in Albert Borgmann¡¯s notion of the ¡°device paradigm¡± and Hans Jonas¡¯s analysis of modern technology. Then I analyze the character of the Arkangel system in the light of the two philosophers¡¯ works and show how the technology turns Marie into a failing parent. In the end, I offer tentative answers to the two questions; the answers shall also shed light on the problem of under-parenting driven by digital technology.