Having proposed these, chapter two examines and extends Milbank’s theological critique of science, exposing the secularisation of ‘scientific’ reason and its divorce from ‘Christian’ faith which forms the foundation for ‘modern’ (secular) thinking. The first chapter of the thesis more specifically structures the content by reviewing and critiquing John Milbank’s work in terms of constructing working definitions of truth, faith and reason. The introductory chapter summarises the thesis and its methodology, and positions the thesis in its relevant jurisprudential, philosophical and theological context. To this end, the thesis engages the work of John Milbank and attempts to articulate a particular conception of the relationship between truth, faith and reason – one which will be conducive to the construction of a legal community characterised by peace rather than violence. In particular, the Christian ideas of truth, faith and reason require analysis in a jurisprudential context.
In order to establish a peaceful system of law and mitigate this violence, the thesis contends that these distorted concepts ought to be identified and returned to their ‘orthodox’ understandings. It argues that this secularisation has led to legal violence in the form of antagonism between the members of the legal community, and alienation of the individuals in the community from each other and the state. This thesis proposes that the modern Western legal system contains secularised or otherwise distorted Christian theology as an integral part of its conceptual foundation. This reading of the film is supported by considering the history of broadcasting and the media history of the recording and the transmission of the voice, providing insight into spiritualist and media historic discourses about (blasphemous) alterations of communication, ‘media zombies’, and the radio signal that becomes the carrier of an apocalypse in Pontypool. Wireless technology and radio signals will become one of the crucial tools of the virus-induced apocalypse and the radio can also function as the primary medium through which the film and its ‘conversationalists’ are to be understood. The film’s plot is entirely located within the ‘Beacon Radio’ station the protagonists only learn about the events in Pontypool via information that is relayed by telecommunication media, especially the telephone and radio signal. Pontypool shows an intense affinity with radio broadcasting. These creatures are characterised as ‘conversationalists’, as they become infected by diseased spoken words. The Canadian film Pontypool (McDonald 2008) revolves around the emergence of infected zombie-like creatures in the small Canadian town of Pontypool, Ontario.
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