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Film and Philosophy

INTRODUCTION

Contents

A word of caution

What is philosophy?

Thinking activities

About the course

A word of caution

This is a philosophy course. The course has little or nothing to do with cinematography ( 電影製作 ) or filming techniques.

Warning: Lessons can be boring and difficult if you have wrong expectations.

A word of caution

The main aim or purpose of the course is to introduce you to philosophical ideas through films.

You will also learn to apply philosophical reasoning to issues in science, religion, law, ethics, politics, and everyday life.

Course website

General instructions and reading materials for the course can be found at the course website:

filmandphilosophy.weebly.com

Note-taking

Be prepared to take notes, especially when you see a question (or questions) in red appear on a PowerPoint slide.

Write down the question. Think carefully about it. If possible, write down some brief notes, comments or thoughts of your own.

What is philosophy?

Question: What is the difference between science and common sense?

What is philosophy?

Answer: Unlike common sense, science involves the use of the scientific method (i.e. standard procedures 程序 of observation 觀察 , experimentation 實驗 , data collection and hypothesis testing 假說驗證 , etc.) in the process of inquiry to ensure the production of reliable knowledge.

What is philosophy?

A important distinction:

science – physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, sociology, psychology, etc.

arts (humanities) – literature, history, philosophy, fine arts, etc.

common sense

What is philosophy?

The use of the scientific method in physical science (e.g. physics and chemistry), life science (e.g. biology and ecology) and social science (e.g. sociology and political science) gives rise to reliable knowledge about the world.

What is philosophy?

The scientific method is seldom used in the study of literature, history, philosophy and fine arts.

Knowledge and understanding in these areas is acquired through [1] analysis ( 分析 ) and synthesis ( 綜合 ) of ideas, [2] comparisons of different viewpoints, and [3] creative and critical thinking.

What is philosophy?

Arts or humanities in general, and philosophy in particular, deals with questions and issues :

[1] that cannot be studied with the scientific method;

[2] that cannot be adequately understood based on common sense alone

What is philosophy?

Philosophy often deals with issues that do not have ultimate or model answers – issues such as the nature of truth or the meaning of life.

We do not study philosophy by doing scientific research or by memorizing a lot of facts and information.

What is philosophy?

Instead, we do philosophy by raising questions, analyzing concepts, and making arguments.

To study philosophy, it is necessary to keep our brains active all the time because a lot of thinking is required.

What is philosophy?

Neither the education system nor the mass media (pop culture) emphasizes the importance of thinking. As a result, few students have developed the skill of critical thinking ( 批判思考 ) i.e. the ability to make good judgments based on fact ( 事實 ) and reason ( 理性 ).

What is philosophy?

Question: Why think? How important is the skill of thinking in today’s world?

What is philosophy?

Answer: We need to develop the skill of thinking in today’s world because we need to:

1. analyze complex problems and situations;

2. choose from a vast amount of information;

What is philosophy?

3. distinguish truth from falsehood;

4. learn from the mistakes that we made;

5. cope with the changing world…

What is philosophy?

…and most important of all, if you don’t want to rely on the opinions and judgments of other people, you need to learn how to think for yourself.

What is philosophy?

Philosophy can be regarded as ‘the art of thinking’.

The word ‘philosophy’ itself originally comes from two Greek words, philia and sophia, which mean ‘love’ and ‘wisdom’ ( 智慧 ). Ancient Greek philosophy ( 古希臘哲學 ) emphasized the importance of reason ( 理性 ) and inquiry ( 求知 ).

What is philosophy?

It can be argued that philosophy, as we understand it today, is a Greek creation.

From a historical point of view, however, it is possible to distinguish between 4 major streams (or traditions) of world philosophy.

What is philosophy?

In ancient times, philosophy flourished in both the East and the West:

1. ancient Eastern philosophy (e.g. Buddhism 佛教思想 and Confucianism 儒家思想 )

2. ancient Greek philosophy and medieval Christian philosophy ( 中世紀基督教哲學 )

What is philosophy?

In modern times, western philosophy is divided into 2 main camps:

1. analytic philosophy ( 分析哲學 ), also known as Anglo-American analytic philosophy ( 英美分析哲學 );

2. continental philosophy ( 歐陸哲學 )

What is philosophy?

Today, analytic philosophy is the most common philosophical approach in the English-speaking world.

Analytic philosophy focuses on the analysis of concepts and the examination of arguments in a rational and objective manner.

What is philosophy?

Continental philosophy includes various different approaches, e.g. phenomenology ( 現象學 ), existentialism ( 存在主義 ), and hermeneutics ( 詮釋學 ).

Existentialism, for example, focuses mainly on issues related to the meaning of human existence.

What is philosophy?

You will now be given some advice on how to study philosophy. (This is important! Please refer to the handout.)

And then, we will take a look at some of the big names in philosophy (i.e. philosophers whose views we are going to consider in this course).

Great philosophers

Socrates 蘇格拉底 (469B.C.-399B.C.) was an ancient Greek philosopher who did not write anything. Information about his life is derived from the dialogues written by Plato.

Great philosophers

Plato 柏拉圖 (428B.C.-347B.C.) studied under the great thinker Socrates. He founded the Academy in Athens in 387B.C. His most famous pupil was Aristotle.

Great philosophers

Aristotle 亞里斯多德 (384B.C.-322B.C.) was one of the ‘big three’ in ancient Greek philosophy, along with Plato and Socrates. He was the teacher of Alexander the Great.

Great philosophers

Immanuel Kant 康德 (1724-1804) was a German philosopher best known for his complicated arguments concerning human understanding and ethical judgments.

Great philosophers

Søren Kierkegaard 齊克果 / 祈克果 / 克爾凱郭爾 (1813-1855) was a Danish religious philosopher. He is often regarded as the founder of existentialism.

Great philosophers

Friedrich Nietzsche 尼釆 (1844-1900) was an influential German philosopher and writer. He aimed in all his work to provide a new meaning for human existence in a meaningless world.

Great philosophers

Bertrand Russell 羅素 (1872-1970) was a world-famous British philosopher. He was also a mathematician, logician, writer, and social thinker.

Great philosophers

French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre 沙特 / 薩特 (1905-1980) was one of the most influential writers and thinkers of the 20th century. His name is nearly synonymous with existentialism.

Great philosophers

Albert Camus 卡繆 (1913-1960) was one of the most highly-regarded French writers. He wrote novels and essays about the absurdity of human existence.

Great philosophers

Hannah Arendt 鄂蘭 / 阿倫特 (1906-1975) was a German-born U.S. political philosopher. She was best known for her views on totalitarianism and the ‘banality of evil’.

Great philosophers

John Rawls 羅爾斯 (1921-2002) was an American political philosopher. His Theory of Justice (1971) is widely recognized as a major work in 20th-century political philosophy.

Think!

Plato Helen of Troy

Think!

The ancient Greek philosopher Plato ( 柏拉圖 ) was a perfectionist ( 完美主義者 ).

He argued that there is an ideal world in which everything is perfect. Things in our world, according to Plato, are just imperfect ‘copies’ of things of the ideal world.

Think!

For example, Helen of Troy was believed to be a very beautiful woman in ancient times.

For Plato, however, no matter how beautiful she was, Helen – like every other woman in our world – was just an imperfect copy of the perfect woman in the ideal world.

Think!

According to Plato:

1. For any object X, there is only one perfect X, and it only exists in the ideal world. (A perfect X is also known as a ‘universal’ 共相 .)

2. All the Xs in our world are imperfect – they are all imperfect copies of the perfect X in the ideal world.

Think!Plato argued that the only way

for us to have knowledge of the perfect objects of the ideal world (so-called ‘universals’) was through philosophy (i.e. to study philosophy with Plato himself).

Surprising as it seems, the concept of universals still have a strong influence on our way of thinking even today.

Think!

Picture in your mind what you think are the 5 most handsome men (or the most beautiful women/girls). And then rank them by giving each of them a score (maximum = 10).

Think!Example:

Johnny Depp 9.1

Brat Pitt 8.9

Leonardo DiCaprio 8.5

Tom Cruise 8.2

Keanu Reeves 8.0

Think!

1. How did you arrive at those scores? 2. Can you imagine someone – a Mr. Perfect who, for example, has the eyes of Brat Pitt, the nose of Johnny Depp, the mouth of Tom Cruise, etc. that you would give him a ‘10’?

If your answer to Question 2 is ‘Yes’, you are thinking in terms of a ‘universal’.

Think!

Now we are going to watch a presentation by Malcolm Gladwell in which he explains the trouble with ‘universals’ (e.g. the perfect Pepsi, the perfect tomato paste, the perfect coffee, the perfect orange juice, the perfect sushi, etc.).

Think!

Despite the audience’s laughter, Gladwell is no standup comedian. Many of the audience probably didn’t notice that Gladwell was talking deadly serious philosophy.

In my view, the correct title of the talk should be ‘The Trouble with Universals’ rather than ‘Malcolm Gladwell on Spaghetti Sauce’.

Think!

Why does Malcolm Gladwell (quoting Dr. Howard Moskowitz) argue that there is no ‘perfect Pepsi’ but only ‘perfect Pepsis’?

What exactly is the problem with ‘universals’ according to Gladwell?

Think!

If there really is no such thing as ‘the perfect beauty’, does it follow that beauty is only ‘in the eye of the beholder’ ( 情人眼裡出西施 )?

Think!

Think!

“Time travel is possible because the film Back to the Future shows that time travel is possible.”

Do you think this is a good or a bad argument? Why?

Think!

Most films, including Back to the Future, are fiction ( 虛構的 ). They are, for the most part, stories based on imagination.

Films based on fact rather than imagination are called ‘documentaries’ ( 紀錄片 ).

Think!

“Avatar is a very popular movie.”

Is this statement an expression of objective fact or subjective opinion? Why?

Think!

“Avatar is the best movie of 2009.”

Is this statement an expression of objective fact or subjective opinion? Why?

Think!

We usually think that a statement is ‘objective’ when many (or most) people agree with it.

But the word ‘objective’ has a more precise meaning.

Think!

A statement is ‘subjective’ when it represents a person’s belief, attitude, feeling, opinion, etc.

A statement is ‘objective’ when it represents some fact or characteristic about an object.

Think!

‘Avatar is a very popular movie’ is, without a doubt, an ‘objective fact’. There is clear evidence supporting this statement – just look at the numbers at the box office ( 票房 ).

Think!

Some people may think that ‘Avatar is the best movie of 2009’ but others may disagree. The statement is probably a subjective opinion because it represents only some people’s belief, feeling or attitude rather than an objective fact or characteristic about the film.

Think!

“The film Avatar is a work of art.”

Is this statement an expression of objective fact or subjective opinion? Why?

Think!

Is Avatar a work of art? It depends on how you define ‘work of art’. For some people, Avatar is too commercial to be regarded as a work of art.

On the other hand, those who think that Avatar is a work of art may point to the artistic merits of the film to support their view.

Think!

So, you see, it is possible to approach these and other questions by analyzing concepts and developing arguments.

Instead of relying on common sense, we should sharpen our critical thinking skills.

Think!

We are going to watch a music video – a song called ‘New World Awaits’ performed by the Korean band Vassline.

Think!

What is the style of the music they play? How is it different from Cantonese pop songs? Can you imagine people playing this kind of music in Hong Kong? Why or why not?

Think!

We are going to watch another music video: a song by Rob Dougan called ‘Clubbed to Death’ – the theme song of The Matrix.

Think!

Think!

What is special about the man’s experience of time in the video?

Is it possible that some people’s experience of time is different from ours? Why or why not?

Think!

We are now going to watch a video titled ‘House of Cards’ which is about Bryan Berg, a champion card-stacker.

Think!

Some people think that Bryan is wasting his life away because of what he does. What do you think?

Do you think what Bryan does is meaningless because he allows his ‘artwork’ to be destroyed?

Think!

What is the meaning of life? Have you ever tried to do something to make your life more meaningful?

Words of wisdom

‘…the mere formulation of a problem is far more often essential than its solution.’

~ Albert Einstein

You should always remember that asking the right questions is also a very important part of doing philosophy.

About the course

Lecturer/Instructor: Mr. Tang

E-mail: chakin@gmail.com

Course website:filmandphilosophy.weebly.com

Other information: Please refer to the ‘Course Outline’.

About the course

The primary language of teaching is English. However, Cantonese may sometimes be used to explain difficult concepts.

If you have any difficulties, please feel free to ask questions in either English or Cantonese.

About the course

Lecture notes (PowerPoint slides) will be uploaded onto the course website one or two days before each lecture.

You should check the course website for updates every week.

About the course

All reading material will be made available for download at the course website.

No hard, physical copies of lecture notes or articles will be printed for distribution in class.

About the courseA total of 6 films will be shown

during lectures in the upcoming weeks. (Some of these films may include adult contents, i.e. scenes of sex, nudity, violence, and the use of foul language.)

Links to plot summaries and other information about the films can be found on the course website.

About the course

Please be considerate. You should go outside the classroom if you want to eat, smoke, use your mobile phone, and so on. (You may be counted as absent if you do not return to the classroom within 15 minutes.)

About the courseA quiet environment is necessary

for concentration, clear thinking and effective learning. Chatting is therefore not allowed inside the classroom.

If you really want to have discussions with your classmates about philosophical issues, you should keep your voice down as much as possible.

About the course

Assessment:

1. film making 15% 2. mid-term test 20%

3. written assignment 15%4. examination 50%

Further information about coursework will be provided during tutorial sessions.

The end

This is the end of today’s lecture. However, you may stay behind if you have any questions.