Description:
Paul W. Kahn finds in popular films a new setting for a philosophical inquiry into timeless themes. He explores the nature of action and interpretation, and narratives of politics, family, and faith. Engaging with genres as diverse as romantic comedy, slasher film, and pornography, Kahn explores the social imaginary through which we create and maintain a meaningful world.
Review Quotes: What an astonishing book, a marriage between film and philosophy written without pretension or technical language. Fifty years ago, Pauline Kael famously 'lost it at the movies'; now Paul Kahn has found it. Film, Kahn explains, is not just about losing your innocence, it is about finding your 'self'--and that is and always has been the project of philosophy. You may not agree with Kahn's interpretation of particular films, but you will always be enlightened.--Alan A. Stone, Harvard University