Philosophy in Film

3 credits — 4 weeks: May 12th through June 6th, 2008
Summer Session Registration Begins March 24th

“What is real? How do you define ‘real’? If you’re talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.” —Morpheus, The Matrix

Is Morpheus right? Is there something more to reality than sensation? And if there is, how could we know anything about the real world?

“The point is that this is a very odd thing, supernatural, for lack of a better word. It raises all sorts of philosophical questions about the nature of self, about the existence of the soul. Am I me? Is Malkovich Malkovich? Was the Buddha right, is duality an illusion? Do you see what a can of worms this portal is? I don't think I can go on living my life as I have lived it.”
—Craig Schwartz, Being John Malkovich

What can movies teach us about the nature of reality — of ourselves? How the conceivability of bizarre cases and scenarios (involving time travel, teleportation, living in a “matrix”, and so on) bear on how we understand ourselves and our world ordinarily?

This online course will explore several interconnected philosophical issues by using film as a philosophical text. Our central concern will be with questions in metaphysics and epistemology as they emerge from popular film: What is real? What can we know about the world? What is the nature of time? What is it to be a person or persist through change? Might it be possible to travel through time as we travel through space? If so, would paradoxes result? (Could I, for example, prevent my own existence?) Do we have free will?

Films:

We will consider these issues in the context of the following films: The Matrix, The Truman Show, Vanilla Sky, Being John Malkovich, Memento, Total Recall, The Prestige, Minority Report, Stranger than Fiction, 12 Monkeys, and Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.

Texts:

Other than readings made available online, you will be required to purchase two (inexpensive and readily available) books:

John Perry, A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality (Hackett)

Theodore Sider & Earl Conée, Riddles of Existence (Oxford)

You may also wish to purchase Christopher Grau's Philosophers Explore the Matrix (Oxford). But this is purely optional: these essays are also available online for free here.

Positive Feedback from the 2007 Class!

“this class in my opinion was probably the funnest class I've had in my college career. Some of the topics really made me think to where I took hours just trying to wrap my brain around some of the stuff.”

“I liked Matt's involvement in the forums. It's the first time I've seen a professor participate in the discussions and for the first time in an online class, I've actually felt like this was a real discussion. I found myself checking the discussion boards often to see if anyone responded to what I said, etc. . . . overall, the class was a blast! I feel like I've gotten to know my group members and my professor even though none of us have ever met.”

“What I liked most about the class was the involvement from Slater in both our group discussions and in the grading. Even for an online class, i had never seen that much involvement from a prof. . . .”

Frequently Asked Questions

Who should take this course? Do I have to be a philosophy major? This course should appeal to anyone who enjoys creative film and has ever wanted to think deeply about the sorts of questions mentioned above. Perhaps you thought as you watched The Matrix, “Wait, how does Neo know that he’s now experiencing the real world? What does the phrase ‘the real world’ even mean!?” You certainly don’t have to be a philosophy major (or even “humanities-oriented”) to get something out of this course. In fact, a major goal of the course will be to teach you how to be a philosopher — what it is like — even if that’s not your chosen field! Of course, philosophy majors might enjoy an opportunity to think carefully about some classic problems in the context of contemporary film.

What can I hope to learn from the course? You can expect to gain a familiarity with some philosophical problems that have bothered philosophers for millennia. More importantly, perhaps, you’ll get some practice analyzing arguments, thinking critically about difficult subject-matter, and learning how to present arguments in a cogent way. Thinking philosophically is about more than just being “deep” or wearing trench-coats and harboring strange ideas. It’s about rigorous thinking — having reasons for your opinions and being able defend them.

What will be expected? At the most general level, all you need is a willingness to think carefully and deeply about problems at a certain level of abstraction. You’ll be expected, in other words, to think critically about ideas that may seem distant from the warp and woof of ordinary life. The other thing to keep in mind is the time-commitment a class like this involves. We’re essentially squeezing a sixteen-week, three-credit class into four weeks. That means that you’ll be busy watching movies, reading philosophical books and articles, writing postings, taking quizzes and completing short assignments. You're advised to use your time wisely. You can probably expect to do something for the class five days a week minimum (perhaps seven!). Don’t sign up for the class, if you don’t think you can manage this or if you’ve planned a ten-day hiking trip in the Andes in the middle of the class. You’ll need to be watching movies, reading, writing, and interacting online! Nevertheless, I do expect the course to be a lot of fun — not to mention, intellectually interesting!

Where do I go to watch the movies? Obviously, as an online, remote course, we won’t have showings of the films involved. The idea is that you’ll watch approximately three movies a week on your own time (by specific days) and complete the assignments by particular times. I’ll leave it to you to figure out the details — whether it’s by buying the individual movies before the class on the cheap, renting them from your local store, watching them online, or subscribing to movie-by-mail services like Netflix, Blockbuster Online, Café DVD, and so on (and on!). You may have seen (some of) these movies before — I’ll ask you to watch them again, as you probably did not watch them having just read a certain text or with certain philosophical issues in mind.

What kind of an internet connection do I need? Strictly-speaking, just a dial-up connection should suffice — the course will not involve rich audio/video streaming. That being said, you may find it infinitely more pleasant to interact with the course with a faster connection. I don’t really know how slow the dial-up experience is (or what you can tolerate!). You will need to have a reliable connection (or to have access to a reliable connection, e.g., at a university or public library), as there will be specific and inflexible deadlines for assignments and postings. Moreover, you may be able to conduct videoconference chats with your group or me if you have the right equipment.

Who’s the professor? (This is where I fight the temptation to write of myself in the third person.) I’m Matthew Slater, an assistant professor at the University of Idaho in the Philosophy Department. I’m originally from Portland, Oregon, but got my Ph.D. at Columbia University in New York City. My main areas of interest are in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of science.

How will I interact with the other students and the professor? For the most part, you will interact with me and each other via a threaded-discussion online, though we may have the opportunity to engage in online chats (either text or audio/visual). I will have posted hours when I will be available online and responding to email. You can also call me by phone (how archaic, I know!) or if you’re local, schedule a time to stop in to my office.

What is philosophy? Perhaps this itself is a philosophical question! Anyway, there are plenty of perspectives on it. See, for example: this, this, this, this, and this. And recently, there was this article in the New York Times, "In a New Generation of College Students, Many Opt for the Life Examined".