Phil/English 190
Film and Philosophy
Professors Eric Boynton & Lloyd Michaels
Tuesday and Thursday 3:00 – 4:15
A team-taught, interdisciplinary exploration of how “films think”—how narrative films embody complex ideas, how concrete images can expose existential and ethical questions, and how certain movies can attain the status of art. Students examine connections between Plato’s description of the philosopher’s task and the filmmaker’s re-creation of the world in the movie theater. Major texts studied include Plato’s Republic, Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols, Levinas’ Totality and Infinity, Weir’s Truman Show, Kieslowski’s A Short Film About Love, and Allen’s Crimes & Misdemeanors.