GWU Philosophy



Philosophy 1062 – Philosophy and Film

|Instructor: Dr. Chris Venner |Course Number: 1062-10 |

|Location: Phillips B 152 |Time: Th 3:30-6pm |

|E-mail: cvenner@gwu.edu |Phone: |

|Office: Rome Hall 456 |Office Hours: Th 1-2pm and F 3-4pm |

Course Description:

This course will give students an historical overview of how Western philosophy has thought about the relationship between the individual and the group to which she belongs. We will examine this theme in three different historical settings – the ancient polis, the early modern state, and contemporary civil society. And we will situate each of our readings alongside movies that address similar themes. For example, we will use Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing to orient our discussion of justice in Plato's Republic, Hunger Games to accompany our discussion of Aristotle's theory of friendship, and Fight Club to guide our reading of Freud's Ego and the Id. Students will develop the ability to closely read philosophical texts, apply themes and ideas from those texts to films, and engage in critical discussion about those texts and films with others.

Class time will be divided between lecture, discussion, and clips from assigned films.

Grading:

Individual Assignments = 48% (4 * 12% each)

• You must submit your assignments in-person at the beginning of class on the day we discuss that reading.

• There are five (5) individual assignments due this semester. I will drop your lowest individual assignment grade.

Midterm Exam = 24%

Final Exam = 24%

Participation = 4%

Books on Order:

Freud, The Ego and the Id

Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

NOTE: The instructor reserves the right to alter the syllabus during the course of the semester.

Schedule of Classes

• 1/16: Introduction to Course

Polis

• 1/23:

• read Plato, Republic Book I

• read Plato, Republic Book II

• watch Do the Right Thing

• 1/30:

• read Plato, Republic Book VI

• read Plato, Republic Book VII

• watch House of Games

• 2/6:

• read Plato, Crito

• read Plato, Phaedo

• watch Dead Man Walking

• 2/13:

• ead Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Book I

• read Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Book II

• watch Bigger Stronger Faster

• 2/20:

• Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Book III

• read Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics Book VIII

• watch Hunger Games

• 2/27:

• Midterm Exam

State

• 3/6:

• read Hobbes, Leviathan Chapter XIII

• read Hobbes, Leviathan Chapter XIV

• watch No Country for Old Men

• 3/13:

• Spring Break

• 3/20:

• read Locke, 2nd Treatise on Government Chapter 2

• read Locke, 2nd Treatise on Government Chapter 3

• read Locke, 2nd Treatise on Government Chapter 5

• watch There Will Be Blood

• 3/27:

• read Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto

• watch Gosford Park

Civil Society

• 4/3:

• read Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil Chapter V

• read Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil Chapter VII

• read Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil Chapter IX

• watch Dark Knight

• 4/10:

• read Freud, Ego and the Id pp. 1-49

• watch Fight Club

• 4/17:

• read Camus, Myth of Sisyphus pp. 119-123 and pp. 3-65

• watch Wristcutters

• 4/24:

• course summary and review for final exam

• 4/29:

• make-up day, if necessary

Final Exam

• 5/5-5/13: Final Exam during designated exam time

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