Assignment Task
TASK: In a respond to ONE of the following questions:
1. Ontologies of Cinema: André Bazin argued that cinema has a ‘photographic’ basis and hence can be defined ontologically as a ‘realist’ medium. Noël Carroll criticised Bazin’s realism and argued against the idea of ‘medium essentialism’. Outline and discuss Bazin’s realist account of the moving image and Carroll’s critique of ‘medium
essentialism’. Is Carroll’s critique of the ‘realist’ account of moving images convincing?
Rafe McGregor claims that digital images offer a refutation of the ‘transparency thesis’ and that we should therefore think of cinema as closer to animation. Do you agree?
Give reasons for your response.
2. Understanding Film Narrative: Carroll explores the ‘power of movies’ using a cognitivist approach. According to Carroll, how do movies focus our attention using ‘variable framing’? In understanding film narrative, what is the significance of the distinction between plot [syuzhet] and story [fabula]? How does the ‘erotetic’ model of narrative work? Are there any problems with Carroll’s model of film narrative? How might Carroll’s erotetic model deal with a ‘non-standard’ narrative film? (e.g. an art film or ‘puzzle film’ of your own choosing)
3. Cognitivist Approaches to Film: What are the key features of a cognitivist approach to film? What are its strengths and weaknesses as a way of engaging philosophically with cinema? Critics often claim that cognitivist theories are geared towards popular narrative film and do not deal well with art cinema. In response, Torben Grodal provides a cognitivist account of art film (focusing on the ‘Prologues’ to the Lars von Trier films, Antichrist and Melancholia). Outline and discuss Grodal’s account of how these sequences work and the affective/emotional effects they express and elicit in viewers.
Do you find Grodal’s cognitivist analysis convincing? Give reasons for your response.
4. Affect and Emotion in Cinema: Affect and emotion are regarded as essential features of our experience of cinema. Explain the key role of empathy/sympathy in our moral responses to film. Amy Coplan argues against ‘intellectualist’ accounts of emotion, claiming that we should distinguish empathy from the phenomenon of ‘emotional
contagion’. Outline and discuss her account of emotional contagion and its significance for our experience of movies. Carroll, on the other hand, argues that we can account for emotional engagement via sympathy and ‘mirror reflexes’ (i.e. emotional contagion) without the need for empathy. Which of these accounts do you find more convincing? The use of film examples is encouraged to develop your response.
5. Cinematic Ethics: What are some of the key ways in which cinema can contribute to our moral understanding and ethical experience of film narrative? Carroll and Plantinga offer differing accounts of how emotional engagement is linked with moral evaluation. Outline and compare their approaches to cinematic ethics. Jane Stadler discusses The Diving Bell and the Butterfly as an example of how cinema can encourage empathetic and sympathetic engagement with a character’s experience far removed from one’s own. Discuss her analysis of this film – in particular the role of embodied perception and imaginative perspective-taking – and how it can contribute to ethical understanding.
6. ‘Film as Philosophy’ Debate: Some philosophers have argued that film not only illustrates philosophical ideas but can ‘do philosophy’ by cinematic means. What is
meant by this ‘film as philosophy’ thesis? Paisley Livingston argues that the ‘bold version’ of this thesis cannot be sustained. Discuss Livingston’s critique of the idea of
‘film as philosophy’ and the ‘fatal’ dilemma it faces, in particular the ‘problem of paraphrase’ that he claims fatally undermines this thesis. Other philosophers (e.g.
Stephen Mulhall and Aaron Smuts) have defended ‘bold’ versions of the idea of film as philosophy. Can one defend a modified version of film as philosophy? Reference to film examples would be helpful in justifying your response.
7. Philosophers such as Karen Jones have argued that trustworthiness is not a virtue because sometimes different people trust us to do opposite things. Evaluate and
critique this argument.
8. Philosophers such as Onora O’Neill have argued that we should only trust those who are already trustworthy, but Jason D’Cruz suggests that sometimes we can only find out whether someone is trustworthy by placing our trust in them. How should we navigate this disagreement?
9. Virtues are typically thought to benefit the people who possess them. For instance, someone who has self-control is more likely to succeed than someone who lacks it.
Trustworthiness might seem like a counterexample, as it binds the trustworthy person to act and not act in certain ways. Does this mean that trustworthiness is not a virtue? Why or why not?
10. Sometimes we should trust ourselves, but other times we should trust others. How can we tell the first case from the second?
11. When it comes to trusting well, there seem to be two different strategies:
(a) consult a range of diverse, independent sources and come to your own conclusion vs.
(b) let an expert do that for you, and accept whatever they say. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach? Is there a principled way to hybridize them?
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