philosophy

Mn ,INDS 104 – Knowledges

Philosophy and Film

The grade for this essay assignment counts for two informal assignments.Your response is due, uploaded to our Moodle class page, prior to the start of our class session on Monday, 20 April, 2015.

The goal of this assignment is to help you apply ideas from our class readings to film treatments of these topics.

First, please choose and view one of the following films:

Cronenberg, D., Hamon, D. and Lantos, R. (Producers) &Cronenberg, D. (Director). (1999). eXistenZ. (Motion picture).Canada: Alliance Atlantis.

Levinson, B. and De Niro, R. (Producers) & Levinson, B. (Director). (1997). Wag The Dog. (Motion picture). United States: New Line Cinema.

Nolan, C. & Thomas, E. (Producers) & Nolan, C. (Director). (2010).Inception.(Motion picture).United States: Legendary Pictures & Warner Bros. Pictures.

Silver, J. (Producer) +&The Wachowski Brothers (Directors). (1999). The Matrix. (Motion picture). Australia & the United States: Roadshow Entertainment & Warner Bros. Pictures.

Second, please consider the assigned class readings to use as part of your essay, but remember that only one or two of these works may apply to your chosen film:

Material on “Simulated Reality”:

Baudrillard, Jean. “The Divine Irreference of Images” and “The Hyperreal and The Imaginary” from “The Precession of Simulacra.” Simulacra and Simulation.1981. Tr. Sheila Faria Glaser. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 1994. Print.

Baudrillard, Jean. “The China Syndrome” from “The Precession of Simulacra.” 1981. Simulacra and Simulation. Tr. Sheila Faria Glaser. Ann Arbor, Michigan: The University of Michigan Press, 1994. Print.

Felluga, Dino. “Modules on Baudrillard: On Simulation.” Introductory Guide to Critical Theory. Purdue Univ. 31 Jan. 2011. Web. 7 Jan. 2015 http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/postmodernism/modules/baudrillardsimulation.html

Mann, Doug. “Jean Baudrillard: A Very Short Introduction.” University of Western Ontario. 28 March 2012. Web. 7 Jan. 2015. http//publish.uwo.ca/~dmann/baudrillard1.htm

Plato. “The Allegory of The Cave.” Republic, VII, 514 a, 2 to 517 a, 7. Tr. Thomas Sheehan.Web. 7 Jan. 2015. http://web.stanford.edu/class/ihum40/cave.pdf

Material on Rationalism and Empiricism (including the idea of an “evil demon):

Boeree, C. George.“Epistemology.”Shippensburg University Psychology Dept. 1999. Web. 7 Jan. 2015. http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/epist.html

Connolly, Patrick J. “John Locke.”Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2015. http://www.iep.utm.edu/locke/

Third, please address the following topics in your essay:

Discuss whatyour chosen film says about the following topics (to the extent that they apply to your chosen film):

· The distinction between “true” reality and the unreal, specifically

· simulation,

· the dream world,

· scripted events or dramatization,

· insanity, or

· an individual’s “inner sense of reality,”

and how reality and the unreal interact with each other.

· The ability of humans to distinguish between reality andother, unreal states.

· The relative value of reality and the unreal (i.e., Which state should we value more, which state is more “true”?)

Which of the authors we have discussed this term has discussed ideas which closely parallel those in your chosen film?

How do the author’s ideas differ from, and correspond to, the ideas in your chosen film?

Your essay should

· consist of at least 500 words (exclusive of header and any quoted material),

· avoid summarizing the film or the assigned course material,

· providequotes from the film and the assigned course material to support your argument, and

· be word-processed in 11 point Times-Roman font, double spaced, and with one-inch margins on all four sides.