Part VII: What Can We Learn From Films?

24. Knowledge as Transgression by Stanley Cavell
25. Realist Horror by Cynthia A. Freeland
26. Philosophy Screened: Experiencing the Matrix by Thomas E. Wartenberg
27. Virtue and Happiness in Groundhog Day by Joseph H. Kupfer

The essays in this section consider what it is we can learn from films and how is it that films can prompt philosophical reflection. Cavell's essay gives a close reading of It Happened One Night. In addition to being required viewing for the essay, your students will find it hilarious.	It Happened One Night (Frank Capra, 1939)
Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991)	Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991) Ground Hog Day and The Matrix are required viewing for the Kupfer and Wartenberg essays. The classic Kurosawa film, Rashomon, raises the issue of the relativity of truth and students could benefit from a close analysis of this film. Memento would be an excellent choice to use in connection with the topic of personal identity, as would the cult classic by Ridley Scott, Blade Runner.
Wartenberg argues for the more general claim that film can "screen" philosophy and for the more specific claim that The Matrix is a screening of Descartes' thought experiment regarding the evil genius. But techniques other than thought-experiments, e.g. arguments, are also used to advance philosophical positions.  Spike Lee's Jungle Fever (1991) could be discussed as presenting an "argument" against the viewpoint of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner that integration is the way to advance the civil rights of African-Americans.	The Matrix (Andy and Larry Wachowski, 1999)
Groundhog Day (Harold Ramis, 1993)	Seymour Chapman (in Part V) claims that Birth Of A Nation (mentioned in previous sections above) presents an argument against freed blacks and sharecroppers. For Cynthia Freeland's essay, films that features recognizably human monsters-such as Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, or Kubrick's The Shining-would be useful to contrast with the classic horror movies like Frankenstein (suggested in Part IV). Just make sure to prepare your students for the violence they will see in these films.