Call for Papers for Volume 16
Special Interest Edition:
Ethics and Existentialism II
Submissions are invited concerning the ethical content of films, and the ethical implications of depicting certain types of behavior. Existential approaches to philosophizing about films are also sought after, as are articles on directors whose films reflect an existentialist sensibility. Essays that relate films to ethical theory, and to such classic existential themes as dread, guilt, authenticity, nihilism, absurdity, etc. are particularly welcome.
Articles should be 2500-7500 words, using the Chicago Manual of Style's system of endnotes (with all relevant bibliographic information included therein). Submissions should be sent by e-mail to Managing Editor Daniel Shaw at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Deadline: June 30, 2011
Professor Daniel Shaw
Chair, Philosophy Department
Lock Haven University (570) 484-2052
Managing Editor, Film and Philosophy
"Hope is the thing with feathers--/ that perches in the soul--/
and sings the tune without the words--/ and never stops at all."
Emily Dickinson
________________________________
From: Film-Philosophy [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Frank, Michael [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2010 9:25 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: A film that does Ethics
PS . . . i neglected to mention one other important aspect of this issue . . . in talking about the way texts represent things or events i of course should have said that in doing so they inescapably raise philosophical questions about the nature of representation itself . . . but here once again the text can only raise the question, not address it
on second, or third, thought, maybe that’s the formulation that seems to scratch the itch most effectively, so let me propose the following: movies, like novels or poems or paintings or dances, can raise philosophical questions, but by their nature they cannot address those questions [though the verbal media can QUOTE words that do address the questions]
m
From: Film-Philosophy [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Frank, Michael
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2010 9:20 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: A film that does Ethics
have to say first that i’m a film person, not a philosophy person [to say nothing of “philosopher”] and as such may have a peculiar notion of philosophy – but for me philosophy is [let me call it] propositional . . . as a result images cannot be philosophical . . .
[note, e.g., seymour chatman’s useful distinction between the three utterances 1. the chair is blue; 2. there is a blue chair; 3. the blue chair . . . in his view an image cannot do # 1; might be able to do # 2; and typically does # 3 . . . and it seems to me that utterances of the # 3 kind cannot be philosophical]
if this is tenable then i would argue it follows that a film – like a story – can create or represent something that provokes philosophical reflection . . . and in my experience most discussions of film and philosophy [like the discussions of lit & philo that have a long track record] are precisely of this order, articulating and confronting, say, the ethical dilemma faced by a character in choosing between two alternatives, or specifying the existential character of the experience of a character – as is so common in discussions of dostoevsky
but, again to my philosophically naïve way of thinking, a representation of a thing or an event is not more philosophical than the thing or event represented, although like the thing represented it can readily elicit philosophical speculation – and probably can do it more effectively than the thing itself because the writer or director foregrounds those aspects of the thing represented that point to the larger issues at stake
now if we want to say that any text/representation that raises or evokes philosophical reflection, then i suspect it’s gonna be hard to find any serious work of “art” that doesn’t, some more explicitly than others – but i myself would not think of that as DOING philosophy
one last thing: a verbal medium can more easily include language – either as authorial reflection or in quoted conversation – that is plainly philosophical, while a medium anchored in images would find that more difficult . . . to that extent there may be more philosophy, narrowly construed, in novels than in movies . . . but i take it that there’s a big difference between QUOTING philosophy and DOING philosophy, and that this conversation has been about the latter
mike
-----Original Message-----
From: Film-Philosophy [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Shaw, Dan
Subject: Re: A film that does Ethics
Hi Mike:
Are you uncomfortable with claiming that literature can do philosophy, or at least meaningfully deal with philosophical issues? What surprises me is how there has been a journal for Philosophy and Literature for decades, and how that endeavor has not been questioned much as failing to be philosophical. Films still seem to be relegated to the low art end of the scale, and one of the counts brought against it is precisely that it cannot be as deep philosophically as literature.
Just because it is one of the central tropes of Western literature doesn't mean it isn't philosophical (does it)?
Dan
Professor Daniel Shaw
Chair, Philosophy Department
Lock Haven University (570) 484-2052
Managing Editor, Film and Philosophy
* * Film-Philosophy Email Discussion Salon After hitting 'reply' please always delete the text of the message you are replying to To leave, send the message: leave film-philosophy to: [log in to unmask] Or visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html For technical help email: [log in to unmask], not the salon * Film-Philosophy online: http://www.film-philosophy.com Contact: [log in to unmask] **
* * Film-Philosophy Email Discussion Salon After hitting 'reply' please always delete the text of the message you are replying to To leave, send the message: leave film-philosophy to: [log in to unmask] Or visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html For technical help email: [log in to unmask], not the salon * Film-Philosophy online: http://www.film-philosophy.com Contact: [log in to unmask] **
*
*
Film-Philosophy
After hitting 'reply' please always delete the text of the message you are replying to
To leave, send the message: leave film-philosophy to: [log in to unmask]
Or visit: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/film-philosophy.html
For technical help email: [log in to unmask], not the salon
*
Film-Philosophy online: http://www.film-philosophy.com
Contact: [log in to unmask]
**
|