Thinking Through Film Doing Philosophy, Watching Movies

An introduction to philosophy through film, Thinking Through Film: Doing Philosophy, Watching Movies combines the exploration of fundamental philosophical issues with the experience of viewing films, and provides an engaging reading experience for undergraduate students, philosophy enthusiasts and film buffs alike. An in-depth yet accessible introduction to the philosophy raised by films, film spectatorship and film-making Provides 12 self-contained, close discussions of individual films from across genres Films discussed include Total Recall, Minority Report, La Promesse, Funny Games, Ikuru, The Dark Knight, Memento, AI and more Explores concepts that span epistemology, metaphysics, fate, choice, robot love, time travel, personal identity, spectacle, ethics, luck, regret, consequentialism, deontology and the philosophy of film itself A uniquely flexible resource for courses in philosophy and film that encourages student reflection, as well as being an engaging read for the film enthusiast

Damian Cox is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bond University. He is co-author, with Michael Levine and Marguerite La Caze, of Integrity and the Fragile Self (2003). He has written widely on philosophical topics, including ethics, value theory, metaphysics, and epistemology. Michael P. Levine is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Australia, and has co-authored, with Damian Cox and Saul Newman, Politics Most Unusual: Violence, Sovereignty and Democracy in the 'War on Terror' (2009). He is currently working on the topic of the role of regret and self-assessment in our moral lives.

Part 1: (Chapters 1-3).These chapters discuss various ways that the relations between film and philosophy have been considered, particularly in recent years. These are issues relating to the nature of film rather than to the content of particular films. Are films, as part of mass media and culture, good for us or do they merely reinforce, often in insidious ways, the social, political and personal status quo? Do they prevent us from thinking by manipulating us emotionally and mystifying us in other ways? What should we be thinking about when we watch films? Are there better and worse ways of watching a movie?.1 The relation between philosophy and film.2 Philosophical issues of film and film spectatorship.3 Evaluating films.Part II: (Chapters 4-18).Proposed chapters are as follows. Some of these topics/films may change as the book is written. (A sample chapter on personal identity and Memento is attached.).Epistemology and Metaphysics.4 Scepticism Existenz (1999).5 Ontology The Matrix (1999).6 The metaphysics of time La Jetee (1962).7 Personal identity Memento (2000).8 Free will Minority Report (2002).Philosophical Psychology .9 Self-deception Sous le sable (2000).10 Agency and decision Le Fils (2002).11 Love and identity Carrington (1995).12 Sexuality and happiness Happiness (1998).13 Death and the meaning of life Ikiru (1952).Ethics and Politics.14 Ethics and moral motivation Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989).15 Virtue ethics Frailty (2001).16 Aesthetics and political ethics Triumph des Willens (1935).17 Friendship and oppression September (2007).18 International justice Missing (1982)