Bücher der Reihe The Philosophy of Popular Culture

The Who was one of the most influential of the 1960s British Invasion bands-not just because of their loud and occasionally destructive stage presence-but also because of its smart songs and albums such as "My Generation," Who's Next, Tommy, and Quadrophenia, in which they explored themes such as frustration, angst, irony, and a youthful inclination to lash out. This collection explores the remarkable depth and breadth of the Who's music through a philosophical lens.

The spirit that founded the volume and guided its development is radically inter- and transdisciplinary. Dispatches have arrived from anthropology, communications, English, film studies (including theory, history, criticism), literary studies (including theory, history, criticism), media and screen studies, cognitive cultural studies, narratology, philosophy, poetics, politics, and political theory; and as a special aspect of the volume, theorist-filmmakers make their thoughts known as well. Consequently, the critical reflections gathered here are decidedly pluralistic and heterogeneous, invitingΓÇönot bracketing or partitioningΓÇöthe dynamism and diversity of the arts, humanities, social sciences, and even natural sciences (in so far as we are biological beings who are trying to track our cognitive and perceptual understanding of a nonbiological thingΓÇönamely, film, whether celluloid-based or in digital form); these disciplines, so habitually cordoned off from one another, are brought together into a shared conversation about a common object and domain of investigation.This book will be of interest to theorists and practitioners of nonfiction film; to emerging and established scholars contributing to the secondary literature; and to those who are intrigued by the kinds of questions and claims that seem native to nonfiction film, and who may wish to explore some critical responses to them written in engaging language.

The Philosophy of Christopher Nolan collects sixteen essays written by philosophers and film theorists analyzing moral, metaphysical, epistemological, and political themes that characterize the films of Christopher Nolan.

In this book, Dean Kowalski argues that filmmakers can "do" philosophy when creating a fictional narrative film, and utilizes a careful and extensive analysis of Joss Whedon's fictive creations-Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, and The Cabin in the Woods (among others)-to establish this thesis.

Perhaps nowhere in the broad expanse of types of film is the old "quarrel between philosophy and poetry" more evident-and also more vitally relevant-than in the genre or mode of film known as documentary. Documentary film is just another form of poetic imitation, in its variety of instances and complexity of fabrication, it is just as much caught up with the limitations-and effects-of mimetic art, including fiction film. This book affords a prismatic perspective on documentary cinema, inviting the dynamism and diversity of the arts, humanities, social sciences, and even natural sciences together into a shared conversation.

Neil Young and Philosophy examines the music, career, and life of Neil Young from a variety of philosophical perspectives in ethics, socio-political thought, and aesthetics. It will be of great interest both to Neil Young fans and to scholars and teachers of philosophy and culture.

Legendary director, actor, author, and provocateur Werner Herzog has incalculably influenced contemporary cinema for decades. This essay collection by professional philosophers and film theorists from around the globe offers a diversity of perspectives on how the thinking behind the camera is revealed in the action Herzog captures in front of it.