Description
Book SynopsisMinerva's Night Out presents series of essays by noted philosopher and motion picture and media theorist Noël Carroll that explore issues at the intersection of philosophy, motion pictures, and popular culture.
- Presents a wide-ranging series of essays that reflect on philosophical issues relating to modern film and popular culture
- Authored by one of the best known philosophers dealing with film and popular culture
- Written in an accessible manner to appeal to students and scholars
- Coverage ranges from the philosophy of Halloween to Vertigo and the pathologies of romantic love
Trade Review“The combination of his well-deserved reputation with the subject matter will ensure that the volume has a widespread appeal, from academic philosophers to students of popular culture and the consumers of mass art.” (British Journal of Aesthetics, 1 September 2015)
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction: Philosophy and the Popular Arts 1
Section I The Philosophy of Mass Art 7
1 The Ontology of Mass Art 9
2 Modernity and the Plasticity of Perception 29
3 The Ties that Bind: Characters, the Emotions, and Popular Fictions 40
4 Character, Social Information, and the Challenge of Psychology 64
Section II The Philosophy of Motion Pictures 83
5 Movies, the Moral Emotions, and Sympathy 85
6 The Problem with Movie Stars 106
7 Cinematic Narrative 122
8 Cinematic Narration 133
9 Psychoanalysis and the Horror Film 145
Section III Philosophy and Popular Film 159
10 Philosophical Insight, Emotion, and Popular Fiction: The Case of Sunset Boulevard 161
11 Vertigo and the Pathologies of Romantic Love 183
12 What Mr Creosote Knows about Laughter 194
13 Memento and the Phenomenology of Comprehending Motion Picture Narration 203
Section IV Philosophy and Popular TV 221
14 Tales of Dread in The Twilight Zone: A Contribution to Narratology 223
15 Sympathy for Soprano 234
16 Consuming Passion: Sex and the City 247
Section V Philosophy on Broadway 267
17 Art and Friendship 269
18 Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman, or The Justification of Literature 276
Section VI Philosophy across Popular Culture 289
19 The Fear of Fear Itself: The Philosophy of Halloween 291
20 The Grotesque Today: Preliminary Notes toward a Taxonomy 302
21 Andy Kaufman and the Philosophy of Interpretation 324
Index 348
