The Philosophy of Motion Pictures

The philosophy of motion pictures has typically been explored in a top–down fashion, whereby the essence of motion pictures is identified – usually understood in terms of photographic film – and every other feature of the film is weighed in relation to that essence. The Philosophy of Motion Pictures offers a new approach, championing the concept of the moving image in a more freestyle manner. Motion pictures are defined in a way that not only embraces the media in which moving images exist, but which also affirms the variety of purposes they may legitimately serve. Characterizations of key cinematic elements – the shot, the sequence, the erotetic narrative, and its modes of affective address – are not deduced from first principles, but rather from topic to topic in a piecemeal fashion. The result is a more pluralistic review of this emerging field of study than is found in more conventional texts on film theory. Topics include film as art, medium specificity, defining the moving image, representation, editing, narrative, emotion, and evaluation. These topics reflect the legacy of traditional film theory for the contemporary philosophy of the moving image, while suggesting a new direction for theorizing the motion picture.

Acknowledgments. Introduction: From Film Theory to the Philosophy of the Moving Image. 1. Film as Art. 2. Medium Specificity. 3. What Is Cinema?. 4. The Moving Picture – the Shot. 5. Moving Images – Cinematic Sequencing and Narration. 6. Affect and the Moving Image. 7. Evaluation. Select Bibliography. Index

Noël Carroll is the Mellon Professor of the Humanities at Temple University and the author of Beyond Aesthetics (2001), A Philosophy of Mass Art (1999), and Interpreting the Moving Image (1998), and is editor (with Jinhee Choi) of Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures: An Anthology (Blackwell, 2005).

"As the very first introduction to philosophy of film… The Philosophy of Motion Pictures is ideal for generating new and wider philosophical interest in film as a technologically evolving art form.  …[The book] does beautifully what any good introduction should: It leaves us with a sense of deeper understanding but also an eagerness to continue the conversation." (Katherine Thomson–Jones, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (vol. 66, issue 4)) "Carroll is arguably the foremost philosopher of film writing today. With the assistance of a handful of other philosophers, he has created a vital and lively philosophical specialty out of a field that was mostly moribund prior to the 1980s. The Philosophy of Motion Pictures deserves study by anyone seriously interested in the philosophy of film. The clarity with which it is written and the broad scope of its concerns make it a book that deserves serious attention and discussion." ( British Journal of Aesthetics ) "One of the more insightful scholarly approaches to cinema in recent years. The book explores film…with several interesting and intellectually stimulating and satisfying chapters." ( RogueCinema.com ) "Scholarly, detailed and thoroughly–argued … .It is a fine book. Persuasive and informative and will undoubtedly become a key text in cinematic studies." ( Metapsychology ) "Carroll provides a useful compendium of the central problems and ruling concepts in contemporary film aesthetics. Recommended." ( Choice )