Entertainment is a ubiquitous phenomenon that has been transformed extensively by science and technology. To some extent that transformation has ethical dimensions that merit more consideration than they usually receive.

The Historical Spectrum

There is evidence that human beings have found ways to amuse themselves since the beginning of history. Ancient Mesopotamians reserved six days a month for designated holidays, half of which were tied to religious lunar festivities. Hunting was a favorite pastime of Assyrian kings, as wall reliefs attest; that pastime was shared by Egyptian pharaohs, as is affirmed by the decorations on their tombs. Sports such as boxing and wrestling were practiced widely in the ancient world, sometimes between divine beings and men as in the struggle between Gilgamesh and Enkidu in the Epic of Gilgamesh and that between Jacob and an angel in the Hebrew Bible. Black-figure vases and amphorae indicate the Greeks' love...