Steven Spielberg and Philosophy: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Book (Philosophy Of Popular Culture) by Dean A. Kowalski


Steven Spielberg and Philosophy: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Book (Philosophy Of Popular Culture)
Title : Steven Spielberg and Philosophy: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Book (Philosophy Of Popular Culture)
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0813125278
ISBN-10 : 9780813125275
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 288
Publication : First published January 1, 2008

Has any film director had a greater impact on popular culture than Steven Spielberg? Whether filming Holocaust heroes and villains, soldiers, dinosaurs, extraterrestrials, or explorers in search of the Holy Grail, Spielberg has given filmgoers some of the most memorable characters and wrenching moments in the history of cinema. Whatever his subject—war, cloning, slavery, terrorism, or adventure—all of Spielberg's films have one aspect in common: a unique view of the moral fabric of humanity. Dean A. Kowalski's Steven Spielberg and Philosophy is like a remarkable conversation after a night at the movie theater, offering new insights and unexpected observations about the director's most admired films. Some of the nation's most respected philosophers investigate Spielberg's art, asking fundamental questions about the nature of humanity, cinema, and Spielberg's expression of his chosen themes. Applying various philosophical principles to the movies, the book explores such topics as the moral demands of parenthood in War of the Worlds; the ultimate unknowability of the "other" in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Schindler's List; the relationship between nature and morality in Jurassic Park; the notion of consciousness in A.I.: Artificial Intelligence; issues of war theory and ethics in Munich; and the foundation of human rights in Amistad. Impressive in scope, this volume illustrates the philosophical tenets of a wide variety of thinkers from Plato to Aquinas, Locke, and Levinas. Contributors introduce readers to philosophy while simultaneously providing deeper insight into Spielberg's approach to filmmaking. The essays consider Spielberg's movies using key philosophical cornerstones: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, axiology, aesthetics, and political philosophy, among others. At the same time, Steven Spielberg and Philosophy is accessible to those new to philosophy, using the philosophical platform to ponder larger issues embedded in film and asking fundamental questions about the nature of cinema and how meanings are negotiated. The authors contend that movies do not present philosophy—rather philosophy is something viewers do while watching and thinking about films. Using Spielberg's films as a platform for discussing these concepts, the authors contemplate questions that genuinely surprise the reader, offering penetrating insights that will be welcomed by film critics, philosophers, and fans alike.

Steven Spielberg and Philosophy: We're Gonna Need a Bigger Book (Philosophy Of Popular Culture) Reviews

  • Brian Eshleman

    This book is both enjoyable and thought-provoking. It not only outlines the philosophies the authors of these essays believe that Spielberg is trying to convey, but the essays critique both his effectiveness and the implications of his subliminal arguments. I had not seen many of these movies, but even so the work was worth reading.

  • O'Neal Sadler

    I never got the impression Spielberg--as an artist--was so deep until reading this collection of essays. The man knows what he's doing, and unlike his fellow auteurs (Tarantino comes to mind), he clearly understands the importance of pacing and technique, to the point of making it feel "naturalistic." In a word, he makes it all look easy--few of even the very best directors can claim this talent. Manipulating emotions is harder than one might think. Predicting how we'll respond to act before the act is even executed is nothing short of genius.

    But that's inside baseball. The philosophers here assembled explained to me the phenomenology of blockbusters and how one should think of a scene beyond its face value. The *why* is as important as the *how.* Why we feel the way that we do whenever we see a hero dying or when she triumphs; the ethics of an Oskar Schindler; the perils of science run amok in Jurassic Park and A.I. are explored using the films as a touchstone. My favorite was on Minority Report--it was a great mix of film review with a hidden taste of philosophy, ethics, political theory and cultural criticism. I have not stop thinking about it since I read it--and I must add, made rewatching MR all the more pleasurable!

    Behind every scene is a case for exploring our deeper selves. The hopes, fears, yearnings, and passions that make for the human condition. It isn't so much a "manipulation," per se as a mirror reflecting our subjective realities. Spielberg can craft a story of a man seeking lost treasures (Indiana Jones) as the pretext for the real story of a man-child seeking his father's approval and the incredible lengths he'll go to achieve it. Yes, this topic is explored in the book.

    I could go on, but frankly, there is nothing more to add that could give these thinkers justice. My only criticism is it doesn't cover any of his recent films (Lincoln; Indiana Jones 4; Bridge of Spies; the Post; Ready Player One). An update would be nice. It isn't necessary. But it would be nice.

    Steven Allen Spielberg is America's fabulist the same way Walt Disney and Frank Capra were America's fabulists. That's not a job most directors want or even seek, and yet he has not only taken up the baton, he's embraced it! I mourn what Hollywood will be without him. These essays give us a sense of what he will leave behind.

  • Andy

    More like 3.5 stars. A real mixed bag - some excellent essays on Minority Report and Munich mixed with other essays that spent pages on rather obvious observations such as, "We tend to suspend disbelief at the movies." Wow, what a revelation...

  • Jordan

    Not what I was looking for but helped me realize that everything I make should have a meaning behind it.