From Monty Python and The Matrix to Casablanca and A Clockwork Orange, popular films offer surprisingly perceptive insights into complex philosophical concepts. Introducing Philosophy Through Film combines this novel pedagogical approach with all the virtues of a serious introductory anthology of classical and contemporary philosophical readings. The result is an engaging and effective way to fire the imagination of those new to philosophy. Drawing on a wide range of popular and easily accessible films - along with the ideas of a diverse selection of historical and contemporary thinkers - this book introduces many of the central areas of philosophical concern, including perception, philosophy of mind, ethics, religion, free will, determinism, and more. Chapter by chapter, the editors offer a discussion of relevant film clips to help illuminate and demystify the philosophical arguments and positions raised in the anthology's readings. By merging the cinematic and philosophical worlds, Introducing Philosophy Through Film provides a uniquely effective way for beginning students to engage with philosophy and gain insights into the human mind.

Richard Fumerton is the F. Wendell Miller Professor of Philosophy at the University of Iowa. He is the author of Metaphysical and Epistemological Problems of Perception (1985), Reason and Morality: A Defense of the Egocentric Perspective (1990), Metaepistemology and Skepticism (1995), Realism and the Correspondence Theory of Truth (2002), Epistemology (Blackwell, 2005), and Mill (with Wendy Donner, Wiley-Blackwell, 2009). His present teaching and research interests include epistemology, metaphysics, and value theory. Diane Jeske is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Iowa. Her teaching and research interests include ethics, political philosophy, and philosophy of law. She is the author of Rationality and Moral Theory: How Intimacy Generates Reasons (2008).

Leseprobe

Preface Source Acknowledgments Part I: Introduction: Philosophical Analysis, Argument, and the Relevance of Thought Experiments Part II: The Problem of Perception Part III: Philosophy of Mind Part IV: Ethics Part V: Philosophy of Time Part VI: Free Will, Foreknowledge, and Determinism Part VII: Philosophy of Religion