Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures: An Anthology (Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies)

This authoritative anthology presents key selections from the best contemporary work in philosophy of film and motion pictures. Designed for classroom use, the essays that comprise this volume have been specially chosen for their clarity, precision, philosophical depth, and consonance with current cognitive science and psychology. The volume's eight sections, each introduced by the editors, cover topics such as Film as art The nature of film Documentary cinema Narration and emotion in film Film criticism Film's relation to knowledge and morality Whether addressing assumptions about the objectivity of documentary film, fear of movie monsters, or moral questions surrounding the viewing of pornography, this text is replete with examples and discussion of moving pictures throughout. Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures......Page 1 Contents......Page 5 Acknowledgments......Page 8 General Introduction......Page 10 Part I Film as Art......Page 14 Introduction......Page 16 1 Photography and Representation......Page 28 2 The Aesthetics of Photographic Transparency......Page 44 3 Everybody Gets a Cut: DVDs Give Viewers Dozens of Choices – and that’s the Problem......Page 53 Part II What Is Film?......Page 58 Introduction......Page 60 4 The World Viewed......Page 76 5 A Note on the Film......Page 88 6 Vision and Dream in the Cinema......Page 91 7 The Long Goodbye: The Imaginary Language of Film......Page 100 8 Moving Pictures......Page 109 9 Defining the Moving Image......Page 122 Part III Documentary......Page 144 Introduction......Page 146 10 Visible Traces: Documentary and the Contents of Photographs......Page 150 11 Fiction, Non-Fiction, and the Film of Presumptive Assertion: A Conceptual Analysis......Page 163 Part IV Film Narrative/Narration......Page 182 Introduction......Page 184 12 Le Grand Imagier Steps Out: The Primitive Basis of Film Narration......Page 194 13 Unreliability Refigured: Narrative in Literature and Film......Page 209 Part V Film and Emotion......Page 220 Introduction......Page 222 14 Film, Emotion, and Genre......Page 226 15 Fearing Fictions......Page 243 16 Empathy and (Film) Fiction......Page 256 17 Identification and Emotion in Narrative Film......Page 269 18 In Fictional Shoes: Mental Simulation and Fiction......Page 280 Part VI Topics in Film Criticism......Page 290 Introduction......Page 292 19 Morals for Method......Page 296 20 Cinematic Authorship......Page 308 21 National Cinema, the Very Idea......Page 319 Part VII Film and Ethics......Page 330 Introduction......Page 332 22 Film Criticism and Virtue Theory......Page 344 23 Beauty and Evil: The Case of Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will......Page 356 24 A First Look at the Pornography/Civil Rights Ordinance: Could Pornography Be the Subordination of Women?......Page 371 Part VIII Film and Knowledge......Page 388 Introduction......Page 390 25 The Philosophical Limits of Film......Page 396 26 Minerva in the Movies: Relations Between Philosophy and Film......Page 400 27 Motion Pictures as a Philosophical Resource......Page 406 Select Bibliography by Jinhee Choi......Page 416 Index......Page 424 Photography and representation / Roger Scruton The aesthetics of photographic transparency / Dominic McIver Lopes Everybody gets a cut / Terrence Rafferty From the world viewed / Stanley Cavell A note on the film / Susanne K. Langer Vision and dream in the cinema / F.E. Sparshott The long goodbye / Gregory Currie Moving pictures / Arthur C. Danto Defining the moving image / Noël Carroll Visible traces / Gregory Currie Fiction, non-fiction, and the film of presumptive assumption / Noël Carroll Le grand imagier steps out / George M. Wilson Unreliability refigured / Gregory Currie Film, emotion, and genre / Noël Carroll Fearing fictions / Kendall Walton Empathy and (film) fiction / Alex Neill Identification and emotion in narrative film / Berys Gaut In fictional shoes / Deborah Knight Morals for method / George M. Wilson Cinematic authorship / Paisley Livingston National cinema / Jinhee Choi Film criticism and virtue theory / Joseph H. Kupfer Beauty and evil / Mary Devereaux A first look at the pornography/civil rights ordinance / Melinda Vadas The philosophical limits of film / Bruce Russell Minerva in the movies / Karen Hanson Film as a philosophical resource / Lester H. Hunt.

Carroll (humanities, Temple University) and Choi (film studies, Carleton University) stress a need to analyze the philosophy of motion pictures and therefore have compiled an anthology of readings by philosophers for courses on the subject. Twenty-seven essays from 1953 to the present, most previously published, are organized into eight sections, each with an introduction. The selections discuss the philosophical questions of film as art, the definition of film, and various aspects of documentaries, DVDs, narrative, emotion in film, authorship, nationalism, morals and ethics in film, pornography, and film's connection to knowledge. Annotation ©2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

"This authoritative anthology presents key selections from the best contemporary work in philosophy of film and motion pictures. Designed for classroom use, the essays that comprise this volume have been specially chosen for their clarity, precision, philosophical depth, and consonance with current cognitive science and psychology."--Jacket Film and philosophy first encounter each other over the issue of whether or not film can be an artform.