Skepticism Films

Philipp Schmerheim is Lecturer in Children's Media Research at the University of Bremen, Germany, and Adjunct Lecturer for Film-Philosophy at the Philosophy Department of the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. His research focuses on film-philosophy, philosophical film analysis, the history and analysis of children's film, and theories of intermediality.

Here is an intriguing volume about a small group of mainstream contemporary films that question the very notion of ‘reality,’ films such as The Truman Show, The Matrix, The Thirteenth Floor, Vanilla Sky, and Inception. A scholar of the philosophy of film, Schmerheim uses a finely focused theoretical lens to unpack the films and the ways in which they leave viewers without solid ground to stand on, upending traditional notions of narrative and conventional cinematic structure. What is perhaps most refreshing about this volume is the author's scrutiny of films ordinarily dismissed as entertainment, as lacking depth. Schmerheim demonstrates that that is manifestly not the case. Through an intensive application of the work of Stanley Cavell, David Bordwell, Gilles Deleuze, Thomas Elsaesser, and others, the author peels back the layers of these well-known films to reveal alternative thought systems that would not at first occur to even the most sophisticated viewer. A plethora of well-chosen frame grabs illuminates the text. Thoughtful and intriguing, this entry in Bloomsbury’s new “Thinking Media” series will amply repay close attention. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty, professionals.

• List of figuresAcknowledgements1. Introduction: Skepticism Films. A Certain Tendency in Contemporary CinemaPart I: Thinking Through Cinema2. Films as Configurations of Philosophical Thought3. Remediating Philosophy, or: The Media of Philosophical ThoughtPart II: Skepticism in Film Philosophy4. Varieties of Philosophical Skepticism: Knowledge, Acknowledgement, and Trust5. A Moving Image of Skepticism? Philosophy‘s Acknowledgement of Film6. A Cinema for Believers. Trust, Belief, and the Expulsion from the Paradise of ChildhoodPart III: Skepticism Films7. Varieties of Skepticism Films8. Tools for Philosophical Film Analysis9. (Not) Knowing My World: External World Skepticism Films10. Not Knowing My Self, or: Being One’s Own Evil Deceiver11. Coda. From Doubt to Acknowledgement, or: The Philosophical Significance of Skepticism Films revisitedBibliography and FilmographyIndex