Philosophy of Film Without Theory

“This book offers a welcome and original contribution to the field: a Wittgenstein-inspired humanistic approach to cinema that argues for a philosophy of film ‘without theory’… an original contribution to contemporary discussions of film and philosophy.” – Dr Robert Sinnerbrink, Macquarie University, Australia. This book challenges the long-standing presumption that serious philosophical engagement with film and television must be theoretical. It demonstrates, by example, how philosophy of film and film studies can move beyond the methodological assumption that understands philosophical to mean theoretical. In seventeen specially commissioned essays, one in-depth interview, and one reprint, leading philosophers and film scholars exploit the approaches, arguments, and insights of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Stanley Cavell, Iris Murdoch, Augustine, Berys Gaut, Noël Carroll, and Ordinary Language Philosophy, in exploring, amongst others, Gravity, Lone Star, The Handmaid’s Tale, Le notti di Cabiria, Dunkirk, L'Année dernière à Marienbad, Visitors, The Night it Rained, Philadelphia Story, Shoah, Mary Magdalene, Psycho, Blue Jasmine, Three Colours: Red, War Games, and Histoire(s) du Cinéma. In so doing, this collection argues for the power of theory-free philosophy and film studies as a way to expand our humanistic understanding. Craig Fox is Professor of Philosophy at Pennsylvania Western University, USA. He teaches courses in logic, aesthetics, and the history of philosophy. Recently, he has been working on pieces of an overall project focused on aesthetics as a path into understanding the significance and relevance of Wittgenstein’s later thought. Britt Harrison is an Independent Scholar with PhDs in philosophy from the University of York, UK, (2022) and the University of Hertfordshire, UK, (2012).She is also a film producer, screenwriter, and script consultant.