Some of the world's best-loved films can be used as springboards for examining enduring philosophical questions. Philosophy Through Film provides guidance in how to watch films with an eye for their philosophical content, helping students become familiar with key topics in all of the major areas in Western philosophy, and helping them master the techniques of philosophical argumentation. The perfect size and scope for a first course in philosophy, Philosophy Through Film assumes no prior knowledge of philosophy. It is an excellent teaching resource and learning tool, introducing students to key topics and figures in philosophy through thematic chapters, each of which is linked to one or more "focus films" that illustrate a philosophical problem or topic. Revised and expanded, the Second Edition features a new chapter on political philosophy, an introductory chapter explaining how to watch films philosophically, an appendix with primary readings, and the addition of five new focus films. Films examined in depth include: The Matrix Vanilla Sky Hilary and Jackie Memento I, Robot Minority Report Crimes and Misdemeanors Antz Equilibrium The Seventh Seal The Rapture Leaving Las Vegas

Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter 1: Skepticism Chapter 2: Relativism Chapter 3: Personal Identity Chapter 4: Artificial Intelligence Chapter 5: Free Will, Determinism, and Moral Responsibility Chapter 6: Ethics Chapter 7: Political Philosophy Chapter 8: The Problem of Evil Chapter 9: Existentialism Appendix Readings from Primary Sources: Plato, Allegory of the Cave (from The Republic) Rene Descartes, Meditation One George Berkeley, excerpts from A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge Immanuel Kant, excerpts from Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics Thomas Kuhn, excerpts from The Structure of Scientific Revolutions John Locke, excerpts from An Essay Concerning Human Understanding David Hume, excerpts from A Treatise of Human Nature Alan Turing, excerpts from "Computing Machinery and Intelligence" John Searle, excerpts from "Minds, Brains, and Programs" David Hume, excerpts from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding Jean-Paul Sartre, excerpts from "Existentialism is a Humanism" Immanuel Kant, excerpts from Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals John Stuart Mill, excerpts from Utilitarianism Thomas Hobbes, excerpts from Leviathan John Stuart Mill, excerpts from On Liberty Augustine, excerpts from On Free Choice of the Will Albert Camus, "The Myth of Sisyphus"

Author Biography

Mary M. Litch has taught philosophy at Yale University, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is currently Director of Academic Technology and Digital Media at Chapman University, where she also teaches philosophy.