Nathan T. Andersen

All films offer something to think about, but not all thinking about films is philosophical. What would strengthen this volume for teaching purposes is greater emphasis on the question implied by its subtitle: just what counts as “philosophy at the movies”? That films have something distinctive to offer to philosophy is argued here in several of the essays. What is less clear from the volume as a whole are the criteria for differentiation between thoughtful film criticism and analysis and distinctively philosophical writing about film. Even setting aside the much-debated and controversial question whether films can themselves be philosophical or can be said to “do philosophy,” it is still worth asking what it might mean to claim of any given instance of film analysis and criticism that it is “doing philosophy.”