Aesthetics and Film

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Description

Aesthetics and Film is a philosophical study of the art of film. Its motivation is the recent surge of interest among analytic philosophers in the philosophical implications of central issues in film theory and the application of general issues in aesthetics to the specific case of film.
Of particular interest are questions concerning the distinctive representational capacities of film art, particularly in relation to realism and narration, the influence of the literary paradigm in understanding film authorship and interpretation, and our imaginative and affective engagement with film.
For all of these questions, Katherine Thomson-Jones critically compares the most compelling answers, driving home key points with a wide range of film examples including Wiene's The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, Eisenstein's October, Hitchcock's Rear Window, Kubrick's The Shining and Sluizer's The Vanishing. Students and scholars of aesthetics and cinema will find this an illuminating, accessible and highly enjoyable investigation into the nature and power of a technologically evolving art form.

Reviews

'Clear and engaging, compact and balanced, this book provides an up-to-date introduction to some of the central issues in the philosophy of film. I can thoroughly recommend it.' Berys Gaut, Reader in Philosophy, University of St Andrews, UK
'A clear and comprehensive introduction to the philosophy of film. This book will be a great resource for students as well as philosophers interested in learning about recent developments in the philosophy of film.' Thomas Wartenberg, Professor of Philosophy, Mount Holyoke College, USA

Author Bio

Katherine Thomson-Jones is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Oberlin College, USA, and has taught previously at the University of St Andrews, UK.