Noël Carroll is one of the most prolific, widely-cited and distinguished philosophers of art, but how, specifically, has cinema impacted his thought? This book, one of the first in the acclaimed 'Film Thinks' series, argues that Carroll's background in both cinema and philosophy has been crucial to his overall theory of aesthetics. Often a controversial figure within film studies, as someone who has assertively contested the psychoanalytic, semiotic and Marxist cornerstones of the field, his allegiance to alternative philosophical traditions has similarly polarised his readership. Mario Slugan proposes that Carroll's defence of the notions of truth and objectivity provides a welcome antidote to 'anything goes' attitudes and postmodern scepticism towards art and popular culture, including film. Carroll's thinking has loosened the grip of continental philosophers on cinema studies - from Maurice Merleau-Ponty to Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Lacan - by turning to cognitive and analytical approaches. Slugan goes further to reveal that Carroll's methods of evaluation and interpretation in fact, usefully bridge gaps between these `opposing' sides, to look at artworks anew. Throughout, Slugan revisits and enriches Carroll's definitions of popular art, mass art, horror, humour and other topics and concludes by tracing their origins to this important thinker's relationship with the medium of cinema.

Designed for classroom use, this authoritative anthology presentskey selections from the best contemporary work in philosophy offilm. The featured essays have been specially chosen for theirclarity, philosophical depth, and consonance with the current movetowards cognitive film theory Eight sections with introductions cover topics such as thenature of film, film as art, documentary cinema, narration andemotion in film, film criticism, and film's relation to knowledgeand morality Issues addressed include the objectivity of documentary films,fear of movie monsters, and moral questions surrounding the viewingof pornography Replete with examples and discussion of moving picturesthroughout

This book is an analytical inquiry into classical film theory (that is, film theory before the advent of the semiotics and poststructuralism that began to dominate academic film literature in the 1970s). The author brings his training and experience as both an analytical philosopher and a film scholar to bear on its chief tenets. Using Rudolf Arnheim, Andre Bazin, and V. F. Perkins as representatives of major types of thinking about film, he provides clear and concise overviews of their work and locates their thought against the critical and theoretical currents of their times, the historical development of the cinema, and the prevalent issues in philosophical aesthetics. This closely reasoned book characterizes the structure of classical film theory, attempts to diagnose its shortcomings, and suggests avenues of inquiry for postclassical film theory. In addition, it includes many illuminating discussions of particular films and cinematic techniques. Arnheim and Bazin represent opposing positions on the nature of photographic recording that are so deeply entrenched in our intellectual culture that these arguments seem to return over and over whenever discussion of the photographic arts is broached. Professor Carroll offers a uniquely penetrating appraisal of their work. Perkins, a more contemporary thinker, has not been subjected to any detailed analysis until now.

Noel Carroll, film scholar and philosopher, offers the first serious look at the aesthetics of horror. In this book he discusses the nature and narrative structures of the genre, dealing with horror as a "transmedia" phenomenon. A fan and serious student of the horror genre, Carroll brings to bear his comprehensive knowledge of obscure and forgotten works, as well as of the horror masterpieces. Working from a philosophical perspective, he tries to account for how people can find pleasure in having their wits scared out of them. What, after all, are those "paradoxes of the heart" that make us want to be horrified?

In a recent poll of practicing art critics, 75 percent reported that rendering judgments on artworks was the least significant aspect of their job. This is a troubling statistic for philosopher and critic Noel Carroll, who argues that that the proper task of the critic is not simply to describe, or to uncover hidden meanings or agendas, but instead to determine what is of value in art. Carroll argues for a humanistic conception of criticism which focuses on what the artist has achieved by creating or performing the work. Whilst a good critic should not neglect to contextualize and offer interpretations of a work of art, he argues that too much recent criticism has ignored the fundamental role of the artist's intentions. Including examples from visual, performance and literary arts, and the work of contemporary critics, Carroll provides a charming, erudite and persuasive argument that evaluation of art is an indispensable part of the conversation of life.

Noël Carroll, a brilliant and provocative philosopher of film, has gathered in this book eighteen of his most recent essays on cinema and television—what Carroll calls “moving images.” The essays discuss topics in philosophy, film theory, and film criticism. Drawing on concepts from cognitive psychology and analytic philosophy, Carroll examines a wide range of fascinating topics. These include film attention, the emotional address of the moving image, film and racism, the nature and epistemology of documentary film, the moral status of television, the concept of film style, the foundations of film evaluation, the film theory of Siegfried Kracauer, the ideology of the professional western, and films by Sergei Eisenstein and Yvonne Rainer. Carroll also assesses the state of contemporary film theory and speculates on its prospects. The book continues many of the themes of Carroll’s earlier work Theorizing the Moving Image and develops them in new directions. A general introduction by George Wilson situates Carroll’s essays in relation to his view of moving-image studies.

Since the 1970s, the academic study of film has been dominated by Structuralist Marxism, varieties of cultural theory, and the psychoanalytic ideas of Freud and Lacan. With Post-Theory, David Bordwell and Noel Carroll have opened the floor to other voices challenging the prevailing practices of film scholarship. Addressing topics as diverse as film scores, national film industries, and audience response. Post-Theory offers fresh directions for understanding film.

"A collection of essays, written for this volume by leaders in the field, that study the emotional and cognitive significance of narrative and its implications for aesthetics and the philosophy of art"--Provided by publisher.

A collection of film essays by the well-respected critic, Noël Carroll.