Minerva's Night Out: Philosophy, Pop Culture, and Moving Pictures [Paperback]

Minervas Night Out presents series of essays by noted philosopher and motion picture and media theorist No?l Carroll that explore issues at the intersection of philosophy, motion pictures, and popular culture.

• Presents a wide-ranging series of essays that reflect on philosophical issues relating to modern film and popular culture
• Authored by one of the best known philosophers dealing with film and popular culture
• Written in an accessible manner to appeal to students and scholars
• Coverage ranges from the philosophy of Halloween to Vertigo and the pathologies of romantic love

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: Philosophy and the Popular Arts 1

Section I The Philosophy of Mass Art 7

1 The Ontology of Mass Art 9

2 Modernity and the Plasticity of Perception 29

3 The Ties that Bind: Characters, the Emotions, and Popular Fictions 40

4 Character, Social Information, and the Challenge of Psychology 64

Section II The Philosophy of Motion Pictures 83

5 Movies, the Moral Emotions, and Sympathy 85

6 The Problem with Movie Stars 106

7 Cinematic Narrative 122

8 Cinematic Narration 133

9 Psychoanalysis and the Horror Film 145

Section III Philosophy and Popular Film 159

10 Philosophical Insight, Emotion, and Popular Fiction: The Case of Sunset Boulevard 161

11 Vertigo and the Pathologies of Romantic Love 183

12 What Mr Creosote Knows about Laughter 194

13 Memento and the Phenomenology of Comprehending Motion Picture l£&