Philosophy of Film: Seminar in the Problems of Philosophy Philosophy 75.1T 3:30 – 6, Brooklyn College Professor Seeley, 3316 Boylan Office Hours, Tuesday, 2:30 – 3:15 pseeley@msn.com http://userhome.brooklyn.cuny.edu Course Description: In this course we will examine several philosophical problems surrounding film as both a form of fine art and a medium of popular entertainment. What makes film a unique artform? How are movies different from television and documentaries? How do films convey an illusion of reality in the theater? What is the basis for our emotional interactions with characters. The course will take a cognitivist approach. Cognitivist theories attempt to explain film as an extension of the basic psychological processes underlying ordinary cognition, perception, and emotional experience. But this is not the only approach to the philosophy of film. Over the course of the semester we will also discuss the differences between cognitivist, Marxist, psychoanalytic, and semiotic theories of film. Course Goals: 1) Introduce students to the problems and methods of the philosophy of film. 2) Evaluate cognitivistism as an alternative to traditional positions in film theory. 3) Introduce students to a growing field of interdisciplinary work in aesthetics and cognitive science. Requirements: Two papers: a short mid-term paper (4 – 6 pages) and a long final paper (8 pages). The topics for the papers: I will assign the topic for the first paper which is due at the midterm. The course carries one credit of independent study. Your final papers should use a film screened outside of class to evaluate the philosophical issues surrounding one of the course topics represented in the schedule of readings below. Students will be required to meet with me after the midterm to discuss the topics for their final papers. Texts: (P) Post-Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies, eds. David Bordwell and Noël Carroll, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, Wisconsin, 1996. (H) Course Packet Other Texts of Interest: Cognitivist Film Theory and Philosophy: Richard Allen and Murray Smith, Film Theory and Philosophy, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003). David Bordwell, Narration in Film Fiction (New York: Routledge, 1997). Noël Carroll, A Philosophy of Mass Art, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998). Noël Carroll, Theorizing The Moving Image, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998). Gregory Currie, Image and Mind: Film, Philosophy, and Cognitive Science (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997). Cynthia A. Freeland and Thomas E. Wartenberg, Philosophy and Film, (New York: Routledge, 1995). Torben Grodal, Moving Pictures: A New Theory of Film, Genres, Feeling, and Cognition, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002). Film Theory: Dudley Andrew, Concepts in Film Theory (New York: Oxford University Press, 1984). Dudley Andrew, The Major Film Theories: An Introduction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1976). Leo Brady and Marshall Cohen, Film Theory and Criticism, Fifth Edition, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999). Toby Miller and Robert Stam, A Companion to Film Theory (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004). Robert Stam, Film Theory (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2002). SCHEDULE OF READINGS (Philosophy of Film): Topic 1: What is a cognitivist theory of film? Virginia Brooks, "Film, Perception, and Cognitive Psychology," Millennium Film Journal 14/15 (1984): 105-126. (H) Gregory Currie, "Cognitivism," from Miller and Stam, A Companion to Film Theory, Blackwell. (H) Warren Buckland, "Film Semiotics," from Miller and Stam, A Companion to Film Theory, Blackwell. (H) Richard Allen, "Psychoanalytic Film Theory," from Miller and Stam, A Companion to Film Theory, Blackwell. (H) Noël Carroll, "Towards an Ontology of the Moving Image," in Freeland and Wartenberg, Philosophy and Film, Routledge. (H) Gregory Currie, "The Film Theory That Never Was: A Nervous Manifesto, in Bordwell and Carroll, PostTheory. (P) Noël Carroll, "The Power of Movies," in Carroll, Theorizing the Moving Image. (H) Julian Hochberg and Virginia Brooks, "Movies in the Mind's Eye," Post Theory. (P) Topic 2: Film, Perception, and Reality Realism Revised: Andre Bazin, "The Ontology of the Photographic Image," in Brady and Cohen, Film Theory and Criticism. (H) Kendall Walton, "Transparent Pictures," Critical Inquiry, December 1984. (H) Gregory Currie, "Photography, Painting, and Perception," Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 49 (1). (H) Gregory Currie, "Film, Reality, and Illusion," in Post Theory. (P) Noël Carroll, "The Power of Movies," in Carroll, Theorizing the Moving Image. (H) David Bordwell, "Convention, Construction, and Cinematic Vision," in Post Theory. (H) Fiction, Non-fiction, and Film: Carl Plantinga, "Moving Pictures and the Rhetoric of Nonfiction Film," in Post Theory. (P) Noël Carroll, "Nonfiction Film and Postmodernist Skepticism," in Post Theory. (P) Topic 3: Film, Fiction, and Emotion Emotions and Characters Noël Carroll, "Mass Art and the Emotions," A Philosophy of Mass Art, Oxford. (H) Gregory Currie, "Imagination and Simulation: Aesthetics Meets Cognitive Science," in Davies and Stone, Mental Simulation, Blackwell. (H) Murray Smith, "Imagining from the Inside," in Allen and Smith, Film Theory and Philosophy, Oxford. (H) Alex Neil, "Empathy and (film) Fiction," in Post Theory. (P) Realistic Horror: Cynthia Freeland "Feminist Frameworks for Horror Films," in Post Theory. (P) Cynthia Freeland "Realist Horror," Philosophy and Film. (H) Noël Carroll "Towards a Theory of Film Suspense," in Post Theory. (P)