Introduction to Philosophy Through Film

by Bruce Russell

The question of whether it is always rational to act as morality requires goes at least as far back as Plato's "Republic." Woody Allen's "Crimes and Misdemeanors" poses a similar question. Judah Rosenthal wants to break off his affair with Dolores Paley, but Dolores does not want to go quietly. His brother proposes hiring a hitman to get rid of Dolores. If this plan is likely to succeed, isn't it rational for Judah to adopt it? Reni Descartes wondered how we can know that the world is as it appears, for how do we know that we are not dreaming or that an evil demon has not tricked us into thinking there is a real world outside of us? "The Matrix" raises the question of how we can know that the world is as it appears, for how do we know that our brains are not being stimulated by supercomputers creating a mere virtual reality for us?Films can raise the same questions as philosophy, and this perceptive book illuminates philosophical questions raised with the help of thirteen contemporary and classical films. Memory, the nature of personal identity, the nature of persons, the problem of evil, psychological egoism, the difference between having a morality and having a sound morality, the value of autonomy, just punishment, and the "why be moral?," are some of the questions of life issues that are elucidated on here through such films as "Schindler's List," "Pulp Fiction," "Ghandi," "The Cider House Rules," and "Pleasantville."

304 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2002

About the author

Bruce Russell (born 1960) is a New Zealand experimental musician and writer.

He is a founding member and guitarist of the noise rock trio The Dead C and the free noise combo A Handful of Dust (with Alastair Galbraith). He has released solo albums featuring guitar and tape manipulation, and has contributed articles to British music magazine The Wire.

He established the Xpressway record label, which was active from 1985 until the early 1990s, releasing mostly cassettes and a few records. Russell then founded the Corpus Hermeticum record label. Xpressway released only music by New Zealanders, usually song-based. Corpus Hermeticum releases, in contrast, may feature New Zealand or international artists, and they eschew song forms in favor of free-form, experimental, usually improvised sounds.