Philosophy and Film Assignments

PHILOSOPHY AND FILM (PHIL 130, Sec. 1001)

Viewing and Reading Assignments

Film viewings are listed by title, director, and year. Readings are listed by author and title. All materials for the course are provided by links in WebCampus/Canvas, in the Viewings and Readings module (accessible via the side-menu Modules link) or they are linked here directly. Many of the films are linked to the Kanopy app, which you can access through your UNLV ACE login or with a public library card. Other films are linked to YouTube or the Tubi app.

For Jan. 27: Watch Nanook of the North, Robert J. Flaherty (dir., 1922) and the trailer for Lovemobil, Elke M. Lehrenkrauss (dir., 2019). Read Nichols, "Documentary Reenactment and the Fantasmatic Subject" and Eitzen, "When Is a Documentary?: Documentary as a Mode of Reception".
For Jan. 29: Watch The Thin Blue Line, Errol Morris (dir., 1988). [Suggested Reading: Nichols, "History, Myth, and Narrative in Documentary".]
For Feb. 3: Watch Koyaanisqatsi, Godfrey Reggio (dir., 1982) and The Driver is Red, Randall Christopher (dir., 2017). Then read Carroll, "Fiction, Non-fiction, and the Film of Presumptive Assertion: A Conceptual Analysis" and Plantinga, "What a Documentary Is, After All".
For Feb. 5: Read Currie, "Documentary Traces: Film and the Content of Photographs". Then (re-)read Carroll, "Fiction, Non-fiction, and the Film of Presumptive Assertion: A Conceptual Analysis" and Plantinga, "What a Documentary Is, After All". [Note: This order of reading, Currie--Carroll--Plantinga, actually makes the most sense, as the Plantinga article discusses Currie's view and Carroll's view, in that order.]
For Feb. 10: Watch Triumph of the Will, Leni Riefenstahl (dir., 1935) and read Jason, "Film and Propaganda: The Lessons of the Nazi Film Industry". Then read Ross, "Propaganda and the Moving Picture". [Optional Viewing: Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat, Jonathan Grimonprez (dir., 2024)--2025 Oscar nominee for Best Documentary]
For Feb. 12: Watch Israelism, Erin Axelman and Sam Eilertsen (dirs., 2023).
For Feb. 17: No class!--Presidents Day. [Optional Viewings: An Inconvenient Truth, Davis Guggenheim (dir., 2006) and No Other Land, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor (dirs., 2024)--2025 Oscar winner for Best Documentary]
For Feb. 19: Watch Modern Times, Charlie Chaplin (dir., 1936) and read Wartenberg, "Illustrating a Philosophical Theory: Modern Times," from Thinking on Screen: Film as Philosophy, and Lowe, "Karl Marx's Conception of Alienation". Next, watch Crimes and Misdemeanors, Woody Allen (dir., 1989) and A Simple Plan, Sam Raimi (dir., 1998). Then read Russell, "The Philosophical Limits of Film".
For Feb. 24: Watch All of Me, Carl Reiner (dir., 1984). Then read Smith, "Film, Art, Argument, and Ambiguity" and Davies, "Can Philosophical Thought Experiments Be 'Screened'?"
For Feb. 26: Watch Metropolis, Fritz Lang (dir., 1927). Then read Coëgnarts, "Analyzing Metaphor in Film: Some Conceptual Challenges".
For Mar. 3: Watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Then read Grau, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the Morality of Memory".
For Mar. 5: Watch Serene Velocity, Ernie Gear (dir., 1970). Then read Carroll, "Philosophizing Through the Moving Image: The Case of Serene Velocity" and Livingston, "Theses on Cinema as Philosophy".
For Mar. 10: Watch La Dolce Vita, Federico Fellini (dir., 1960) and The Music Room, Satyajit Ray (dir., 1959). Then read Pamerleau, "Authenticity in the Films of Federico Fellini". Also check out the First Paper Topic. The paper is due before midnight on Sunday, March 23 via the link in the Assignments area of WebCampus-Canvas. And check out Woodbridge's Paper Requirements and Policies and Numbered Writing Comments Sheet (for guidance on what kind of writing glitches to avoid).
For Mar. 12: Watch The Invisible Man, James Whale (dir., 1933). Then read Plato, "Selections from Book II and Book IV" from The Republic.
For Mar. 24: Watch Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica (dir., 1948). Then read McConnell, "Moral Dilemmas" from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
For Mar. 26: Watch Blade Runner, Ridley Scott (dir., 1982), Ex Machina, Alex Garland (dir., 2014), and Her, Spike Jonze (dir., 2013). Then read Leiber, Can Animals and Machines be Persons?: A Dialogue.
For Mar. 31: Watch The Matrix, L. and L. Wachowski (dirs., 1999). Then read Descartes, "Meditations I & II," from Meditations on First Philosophy and Nixon, "The Matrix Possibility," Ch. 3 from The Matrix and Philosophy.
For Apr. 2: Watch Rashomon, Akira Kurosawa (dir., 1950). Then read Heider, "The Rashomon Effect: When Ethnographers Disagree", Kawano, "A Phenomenological Inquiry of Rashomon", and Linden, "Five Views of Rashomon".
For Apr. 7: Watch La Jetée, Chris Marker (dir., 1962) and 12 Monkeys, Terry Gilliam (dir., 1995). Then read Taylor, "Fate," Ch. 6 of Metaphysics, 2nd ed. [Suggested Reading: Sider, "Time," Ch. 3 of Riddles of Existence.]
For Apr. 9: Watch Back to the Future, Robert Zemeckis (dir. 1985) and read Conee, "Fatalism," Ch. 2 of Riddles of Existence. Also check out the Second Paper Topic. The paper is due before midnight on Wednesday, April 23 via the link in the Assignments area of WebCampus-Canvas.
For Apr. 14: Watch 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick (dir. 1968) and Solaris, Andrei Tarkovsky (dir., 1972). Then read Fukuyama, "The End of History?", Fukuyama, "2001: A Space Odyssey", and Fisher, "What is Hauntology?"
For Apr. 16: Watch Stalker, Andrei Tarkovsky (dir., 1979) and read Riley, "Hauntology, Ruins, and the Failure of the Future in Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker".
For Apr. 21: Watch The Seventh Seal, Ingmar Bergman (dir. 1957) and Harold and Maude, Hal Ashby (dir., 1971). Then read Nagel, "Death" (Ch. 9 from What Does It All Mean?) and Han, The Burnout Society, pp. 1-20.
For Apr. 23: Watch Wings of Desire, Wim Wenders (dir., 1987) and The Truman Show, Peter Weir (dir., 1998). Then read Nagel, "The Meaning of Life" (Ch. 10 from What Does It All Mean?) and Han, The Burnout Society, pp. 21-51. [Submit your Second Paper before midnight--Don't skip class to work on your paper!]
For Apr. 28: Watch The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer (dir., 2023). Then read Stonebridge, "Mythic Banality: Jonathan Glazer and Hannah Arendt" and Milani, "No-Go Zones in Sweden: The Infectious Communicability of Evil".
For Apr. 30: Read Seifter, "Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest" and Herzog, "Proximities of Violence: The Zone of Interest". Then watch The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke (dir., 2009).
For May 5: Watch The Purple Rose of Cairo, Woody Allen (dir., 1985) and Stranger Than Fiction, Marc Forster (dir., 2006). Then read Friend, "Fictional Characters". [Suggested Readings: Walton, "How Remote are Fictional Worlds from the Real World?"] Also, check out the Third Paper Topic. The paper is due before midnight on Friday, May 16 via the link in the Assignments area of WebCampus-Canvas. [Note: the official exam date for the course is Wednesday 5/14, so you are getting some extra time.]
For May 7: Watch Groundhog Day, Harold Ramis (dir., 1993). Then read Lavery, "'Same-o, Same-o': Eternal Recurrence in Groundhog Day" and Blessing, "Groundhog Day as Philosophy: Phil Connors Says 'No' to Eternal Return". [Suggested Reading: MacAllister, "On the Potential in Film for Ethics Education: In Defence of Educational Ethicism".]
For May 10: If you are rewriting the First Paper, this rewrite is due by 11:59pm.
For May 16: Submit your Third Paper to Turnitin.com via the WebCampus-Canvas link by 11:59pm. If you are rewriting the Second Paper, this rewrite is also due by 11:59pm.

Last updated May 4, 2025

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This document was created on January 21, 2025.