PHIL299-002
– Second-Year Seminar: Philosophy Through Film – Fall
2014
Syllabus – keep handy for reference
Dr. Aeon J. Skoble
341 Tillinghast, x2460
Email: askoble@bridgew.edu Web: http://webhost.bridgew.edu/askoble
Office hours: M 10-11, TR 1:45-2:45, or by appointment
Texts:
As
the course title suggests, the point of the class is to explore philosophical
topics as they are developed in films. So our main “texts” will be the films
themselves. Watching the films, even if
you’ve seen them before, is the equivalent of required readings. For required film viewings, you can either
(a) borrow them from your local public library, (b) rent/stream them from
Netflix, or (c) buy/stream them at Amazon.
I will from time to time assign short readings; when I do they will
either be distributed in class or made available on the web.
Overview
and Objectives:
The
main objectives of this course are: 1, to acquaint you with the philosophical
study of film; 2, to explore some issues in philosophy as they are developed in
film; 3, to develop your writing skills pursuant to the 2nd-year
Seminar program’s role in the BSU Core Curriculum. This course will count towards the major or
minor in Philosophy and for the minor in Film Studies.
As a medium, film communicates in several ways: it is a visual mode of
story-telling, but that there is story to tell implies that writing is a
component as much as photography. Since
the stories involve people pretending to be other people, the quality and type
of acting matters, and other theatrical components such as staging, lighting,
and music also play a role in how the film communicates. When I say the film “communicates,” this
suggests minimally that there’s a story being told – this much is true of all
films. Some films, through that
storytelling, express a philosophical position or bring up a philosophical
problem. Some do this deliberately, and
others inadvertently. This semester we
will consider films of both types.
Philosophy is the rational inquiry into fundamental questions of reality,
knowledge, morality, justice, life, and love.
Examples of philosophical questions include “what is real?”, “what does
it mean to know?”, “is there a God?”, “what gives life meaning?”, “do we have
free will?”, “what is right or just?”
For this seminar I have selected a few such areas, and pairs of films
for each.
This calendar (which is subject to change if
necessary) shows our itinerary:
|
Sept 4 |
Intro to Course: goals and subject matter |
|
Sept 9-11 |
Importance of Philosophy, nature of rational inquiry, logic and
irrationality |
|
Sept 16-18 |
Epistemology and Personal Identity |
|
Sept 23-25 |
Ethics part 1: why be moral? |
|
Sept 30-Oct 2 |
Ethics part 2: integrity |
|
Oct 7-9 |
Meaning of Life part 1:
discovering emptiness |
|
Oct 14-16 |
The social order part 1: freedom and diversity |
|
Oct 21-23 |
Media and society |
|
Oct 28-30 |
War part 1: law and war |
|
Nov 4-6 |
War part 2: just war theory |
|
Nov 12-13* |
The social order part 2: Multiculturalism and Outsiders |
|
Nov 18-20 |
Politics part 1: privacy and the state The Conversation, The Lives of Others |
|
Nov 25 |
Politics part 2: the face of tyranny |
|
Dec 2-4 |
Meaning of Life part 2: triumph of the human spirit |
|
Dec 9 |
Conclusion |
Requirements:
First,
you are required to watch both films (and read any associated readings) prior
to the Tuesday class each week, so as to be able to comment on them if called
on, and to ask intelligent questions about things you didn’t understand or
things that merit further discussion.
Second,
you are required to attend the class. A
large portion of the learning that will go on is a function of the unique
real-time dynamic of a college seminar.
The word “attend” here connotes “attentiveness,” not merely
presence. Hopefully you will find the
class sufficiently exciting that you will prefer not missing it, and will come
prepared and alert for the discussions that characterize seminars. In any case, absences in excess of three will
result in reduction in your grade, as will disruptive behavior or excessive
lateness. If you do have to miss class,
it is your responsibility to get the notes, and any announcements or additional
assignments, from a classmate.
Third,
try to observe some of the ground rules of civilized society: Anything with an
off switch should be off (as should, ideally, hats), eat and drink quietly and
discreetly, don’t read the newspaper or do homework for another class, don’t go
to sleep. You are not to use your phone
during class. Disruptive behavior will
result in your being asked to leave.
Conversely, constructive participation will be rewarded. Please be attentive to the distinction
between criticizing an idea and personal attacks. Disagreement is productive, angry fighting is
not.
Fourth,
the writing component:
a) weekly journal – create a Word document called “<last name> weekly
journal 299” Each week, you will write a
reflection on that week’s themes: how you interpreted the films and what you
think about the philosophical issues they raised. This should be about a page (two at the most)
of single-spaced 12-point Times New Roman.
Each week, you will add a new page and re-save, then email me the latest
version. I will provide feedback on the
document using Word’s markup features and email it back. In other words, throughout the semester, we
will be sending back and forth to each other a single document that changes
each time.
b) formal essay writing – after one of the first few journals, I’ll assign a
formal essay topic. This will be a 3-4
page essay with a thesis statement. This
should be double-spaced 12-point Times New Roman, and again emailed to me for
feedback. I’ll email it back to you for revisions. Towards the end of the semester I will assign
a second paper, same procedure.
Grading:
weekly
journal = 40%
first
essay = 20%
second essay
= 25%
active and constructive participation in class discussions = 15%
100%