Philosophy Through Film

In the last decade or so a number of philosophers have become interested in film, both as a way of illustrating difficult concepts in philosophy and as a medium with a rich potential for the development of philosophical thought. Mary Litch's "Philosophy through Film" was one of the first and remains one of the best and most useful textbooks for introducing students to philosophical concepts by way of film, and uses ideas drawn from philosophy to help analyze films that raise important questions about the nature of human identity, the character of knowledge, and ethical and existential questions about how we live. The format is especially helpful. Each chapter introduces a central philosophical theme and raises several of the issues that surround this theme, and then illustrates the theme with a brief account of two or three contemporary and easily accessible films that raise issues related to this theme. The final part of the chapter presumes that students will have gone on to view the film for the first time, or once again with the specific thematic issues of the chapter in mind. She then gives a detailed summary of each film to suggest how the film raises and resolves such issues and examines what is at stake in the way the film seems to resolve this issue. So, for example, a chapter on personal identity -- the question what makes a person who he or she is -- is complemented by analyses of the films Being John Malkovich and Memento. A chapter on epistemology -- the question how we know what we know and whether we can have knowledge at all -- is complemented by analyses of "Total Recall" and "The Matrix." Overall, it is a fine book that is well written and clear -- and while I may disagree with some of her emphases and wish she had discussed certain subjects more or less, the overall presentation is compelling and interesting. Something she doesn't do, but that other philosophers have begun to do in a number of books, is raise questions about the nature of film itself and whether and to what extent it is a medium uniquely suited for the expression or exploration of philosophical ideas. Even more, whether film itself might be said to be a medium for philosophy and not merely a useful illustration of philosophical concepts. I use this as a text in my course entitled Film and Philosophy to introduce students to the methods of philosophy, and especially to make relevant some of the seemingly abstract debates that take place within ethics, epistemology and metaphysics. I supplement this with discussions and readings in aesthetics to raise the question what is distinctive to film as a medium, and to raise questions that go beyond film as an illustration of philosophy and in the direction of the "philosophy of film." I'd love to see Mary Litch come out with a new edition of this excellent text, and expect to keep using it for some time. UPDATE: a new edition of Philosophy through Film has been published, including discussions of more film