Woody Allen and Philosophy: [You Mean My Whole Fallacy Is Wrong?]

Popular Culture and Philosophy #8

by Mark T. Conard, Mark T. Conard

Fifteen philosophers representuing different schools of thought answer the question what is Woody Allen trying to say in his films? And why should anyone care?
Focusing on different works and varied aspects of Allen's multifaceted output, these essays explore the philosophical undertones of Anne Hall, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Manhattan, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy and reminds us that just because the universe is meaningless and life is pointless is no reason to commit suicide.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Film, Essays, 21st Century, Art, Humor

250 pages, Paperback

First published August 9, 2004

About the author

Mark T. Conard lives in New York City. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Temple University in Philadelphia. He’s the author of numerous essays, and is the co-editor of The Simpsons and Philosophy, and Woody Allen and Philosophy, both published by Open Court Press; and is editor of The Philosophy of Film Noir, The Philosophy of Neo-Noir, The Philosophy of Martin Scorsese, The Philosophy of The Coen Brothers, and The Philosophy of Spike Lee (all published by The University Press of Kentucky). He’s the editor of Nietzsche and the Philosophers (Routledge, 2017). In addition, he's the author of Dark as Night (2021) and A Killer's Coda (2021), both published by Down & Out Books.

Reviews

[Elari · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not always easy to date someone whose mind and soul are saturated with philosophical nitpicks (by the way, what is mind? what is soul?). Earlier today, my boyfriend (Greek and math/philosophy major—a dangerous combination) came into my room while I was reading an article on smartphone addiction. His comment was: "Oh, I'd heard of phone addiction before, but I didn't know there was another concept specifically related to smartphone addiction." In his defense, English is not his first language, nor does he do it on purpose. A few more of these anecdotes and I'll write a script about him.
________________

Woody Allen is probably the reason why I started listening to old instrumental jazz in my early twenties, which in this day and age (and what's more, at my age) remains a solitary passion. As someone who's seen 24 of his movies (I counted), many of them over five times, I enjoyed this book very much.

Here's a random scene for when life kicks you in the genitals.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with most collections of essays, this on is a bit hit and miss but mostly hit. Erudite without being overly academic, these authors make approachable connections between Allen's films and philosophy, as promised by the title. I appreciated that although many of the essays touch on Allen's major films, many also dealt with less popular films such as Another Woman and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, which makes me want to revisit these works.

[Erin]

Felt this was very heavy on the Crimes and Misdemeanors (depressing bedtime reading!); and a lot of the lavish praise of Allen made me squeamish. Yes, I like (many) of his movies. And yes, I'm reading this with the benefit (or detriment?) of hindsight. But. We knew controversial stuff about him even back when this book was published, didn't we? (While reading this—and while also watching two adaptations of War and Peace—I had a dream that Roman Polanski was making a film in Russia, but he was arrested and put in Russian jail. I'm sure it was my conscience giving me grief about the artist-as-separate-from-art debate that wages in me on a regular basis. How do we engage with or enjoy any art when artists keep turning out to be not only human[s] but rotten humans? Sigh.)

I thought Jill Gordon's essay, "Self-Knowledge in Another Woman," was one of the most interesting and certainly the best written of the bunch.

PS: I estimated that I had been reading this for about a week, but I see that it has been three weeks. O_o Tempus fugit.

[Defaeco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Built out of blocks of academic papers,
amusing (how not?) and packed with philosophical insights about Woody Allen's cinema, thought and comedy.
Not essential and it could be much more in my opinion, yet it is a good addition to the collection of literature dealing with cinema and/or a good read for the curious mind and Allen's fans.

[Michellette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the essays read like a B+ first-year term paper.

[O'Neal Sadler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned quite a bit and how to appreciate the work of Allen. While one can disagree about Woody Allen as a person (I wouldn't want to ever meet him), as an artist, he's one of the finest directors cinema has ever produced. I high recommend this book, although it should be mentioned it stops around 2004, so no discussion of Midnight in Paris or Blue Jasmine or Match Point.

[Raditya Dika · Rating 2 out of 5]

i've been looking for allen's early works but couldn't find it anywhere. still, i'm currently reading it and try to fill the holes by myself.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this because of the Woody tidbits, but for a book on philosophy I thought it lacked a lot of depth. Don't ask me what I was expecting.

[Kieslowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

چون کتاب از مجموعه ای از مقالات مختلف توسط نویسندگان متفاوت تشکیل شده، روند سینوسی ای داره.بعضی مقالات خوب و پر از نکات تازه و بعضی دیگه تکراری و خسته کننده هستن.بعضی از مقالات فقط به درد محیط های نقد آکادمیک میخورن، اون هم از نوعی که کمترین نزدیکی و غرابت رو با مخاطب عام برقرار میکنند.
در مجموع اگه به دنبال مجموعه مقالاتی خوب با کیفیت بالا در مورد سینمای آلن و یک سری از فیلم های خاص اون هستین، اکثر مواقع مقالات این کتاب نا امید تون میکنند.
در کنار تمام مشکلات متن ها و ترجمه اونها(مثل ترجمه صرف کلمات و انتخاب نکردن واژگان مناسب تر) فاجعه پاورقی ها رقم میخوره.پاورقی ها در انتهای هر مقاله ذکر شده و مثل کسی که یک پاش این ور طنابه و پای دیگه اش سمت مخالف، مدام باید از اینجا به اونجا کنید تا بتونین پاورقی های هر فصل رو بخونین.عذابی که در کنار کیفیت مقالات و ترجمه،همه این پکیج رو به یک پروسه سخت تبدیل میکنه.

[Peter B Waddell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A miscellany of essays with enough being sufficiently detailed and convincingly philosophical to give the desired weight and the treatment Woody Allen's movies deserve.

[The_J · Rating 2 out of 5]

When interests intersect, either insight, or a teleological collision arise. The later dominated the report of particular experience.