The Philosophy of Martin Scorsese

Academy Award–winning director Martin Scorsese is one of the most significant American filmmakers in the history of cinema. Although best known for his movies about gangsters and violence, such as Mean Streets, Goodfellas, Casino, and Taxi Driver, Scorsese has addressed a much wider range of themes and topics in the four decades of his career. In The Philosophy of Martin Scorsese, an impressive cast of contributors explores the complex themes and philosophical underpinnings of Martin Scorsese’s films. The essays concerning Scorsese’s films about crime and violence investigate the nature of friendship, the ethics of vigilantism, and the nature of unhappiness. The authors delve deeply into the minds of Scorsese’s tortured characters and explore how the men and women he depicts grapple with moral codes and their emotions. Several of the essays explore specific themes in individual films. The authors describe how Scorsese addresses the nuances of social mores and values in The Age of Innocence, the nature of temptation and self-sacrifice in The Last Temptation of Christ and Bringing Out the Dead, and the complexities of innovation and ambition in The Aviator. Other chapters in the collection examine larger philosophical questions. In a world where everything can be interpreted as meaningful, Scorsese at times uses his films to teach audiences about the meaning in life beyond the everyday world depicted in the cinema. For example, his films touching on religious subjects, such as Kundun and The Last Temptation of Christ, allow the director to explore spiritualism and peaceful ways of responding to the chaos in the world.Filled with penetrating insights on Scorsese’s body of work, The Philosophy of Martin Scorsese shows the director engaging with many of the most basic questions about our humanity and how we relate to one another in a complex world. Mark T. Conard, assistant professor of philosophy at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, is the editor or coeditor of many books, including The Philosophy of Film Noir and The Philosophy of Neo-Noir. Ethics, aesthetics, film theory, and popular culture all meet in this new collection, which sheds new light on all aspects of Scorsese\u27s work. This much-awaited edition brings alive philosophical themes in Scorsese\u27s films that both the novice and the expert can appreciate. The contributors manage to be accessible and scholarly at the same time. --John Davenport, associate professor of philosophy and Magis Fellow, Fordham Univ Examines Scorsese\u27s films in a distinctive and refreshing departure from traditional criticism. What emerges is both a sense of the ethical core of a filmmaker and the realization that Scorsese\u27s insight into the human condition remains constant and penetrating. --Library Journal Conard has compiled another jargon-free and entertaining collection of essays that clearly and concisely define traditional philosophical thought—this time through the lens of Scorsese’s films. . . . Be the reader a Scorsese enthusiast or a philosophy student, this collection serves as an excellent interdisciplinary resource. -- A.F. Winstead, CHOICE This collection will be particularly valuable to philosophy scholars interested in ethics as well as film and cultural critics. --Matthew Schultz, Film Criticismhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_american_popular_culture/1020/thumbnail.jp

The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers

In 2008 No Country for Old Men won the Academy Award for Best Picture, adding to the reputation of filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, who were already known for pushing the boundaries of genre. They had already made films that redefined the gangster movie, the screwball comedy, the fable, and the film noir, among others. No Country is just one of many Coen brothers films to center on the struggles of complex characters to understand themselves and their places in the strange worlds they inhabit. To borrow a phrase from Barton Fink, all Coen films explore “the life of the mind” and show that the human condition can often be simultaneously comic and tragic, profound and absurd. In The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers, editor Mark T. Conard and other noted scholars explore the challenging moral and philosophical terrain of the Coen repertoire. Several authors connect the Coens’ most widely known plots and characters to the shadowy, violent, and morally ambiguous world of classic film noir and its modern counterpart, neo-noir. As these essays reveal, Coen films often share noir’s essential philosophical assumptions: power corrupts, evil is real, and human control of fate is an illusion. In Fargo, not even Minnesota’s blankets of snow can hide Jerry Lundegaard’s crimes or brighten his long, dark night of the soul. Coen films that stylistically depart from film noir still bear the influence of the genre’s prevailing philosophical systems. The tale of love, marriage, betrayal, and divorce in Intolerable Cruelty transcends the plight of the characters to illuminate competing theories of justice. Even in lighter fare, such as Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski, the comedy emerges from characters’ journeys to the brink of an amoral abyss. However, the Coens often knowingly and gleefully subvert conventions and occasionally offer symbolic rebirths and other hopeful outcomes. At the end of The Big Lebowski, the Dude abides, his laziness has become a virtue, and the human comedy is perpetuating itself with the promised arrival of a newborn Lebowski. The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers sheds new light on these cinematic visionaries and their films’ stirring philosophical insights. From Blood Simple to No Country for Old Men, the Coens’ films feature characters who hunger for meaning in shared human experience—they are looking for answers. A select few of their protagonists find affirmation and redemption, but for many others, the quest for answers leads, at best, only to more questions. Mark T. Conard is assistant professor of philosophy at Marymount College. He is the series editor of The Philosophy of Popular Culture series and the editor of numerous books, including The Philosophy of Film Noir, The Philosophy of Neo-Noir, and The Philosophy of Martin Scorsese.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_american_popular_culture/1004/thumbnail.jp

The Philosophy of Film Noir

A drifter with no name and no past, driven purely by desire, is convinced by a beautiful woman to murder her husband. A hard-drinking detective down on his luck becomes involved with a gang of criminals in pursuit of a priceless artifact. The stories are at once romantic, pessimistic, filled with anxiety and a sense of alienation, and they define the essence of film noir. Noir emerged as a prominent American film genre in the early 1940s, distinguishable by its use of unusual lighting, sinister plots, mysterious characters, and dark themes. From The Maltese Falcon (1941) to Touch of Evil (1958), films from this classic period reflect an atmosphere of corruption and social decay that attracted such accomplished directors as John Huston, Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, and Orson Welles. The Philosophy of Film Noir is the first volume to focus exclusively on the philosophical underpinnings of these iconic films. Drawing on the work of diverse thinkers, from the French existentialist Albert Camus to the Frankurt school theorists Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, the volume connects film noir to the philosophical questions of a modern, often nihilistic, world. Opening with an examination of what constitutes noir cinema, the book interprets the philosophical elements consistently present in the films—themes such as moral ambiguity, reason versus passion, and pessimism. The contributors to the volume also argue that the essence and elements of noir have fundamentally influenced movies outside of the traditional noir period. Neo-noir films such as Pulp Fiction (1994), Fight Club (1999), and Memento (2000) have reintroduced the genre to a contemporary audience. As they assess the concepts present in individual films, the contributors also illuminate and explore the philosophical themes that surface in popular culture. A close examination of one of the most significant artistic movements of the twentieth century, The Philosophy of Film Noir reinvigorates an intellectual discussion at the intersection of popular culture and philosophy. Mark T. Conard, assistant professor of philosophy at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, is the editor or coeditor of many books, including The Philosophy of Martin Scorsese and The Philosophy of Neo-Noir. A satisfying book, as each of the authors brings a unique perspective to the discussion and they are able to isolate, identify, and explain some of the more subtle aspects of a genre which, on the surface, seems all about gangsters and pretty girls who done somebody wrong. -- Blogcritics Explores the philosophical underpinnings of movies from the classical noir period and . . . suggests that films aren\u27t noir merely because they share a consistent tone, or certain visual conventions, with the likes of The Maltese Falcon , The Postman Always Rings Twice , and Double Indemnity . -- Boston Globe The essays work both as solid primers into philosophy, stretching from Aristotle to Schopenhauer, and as lucid excursions into the genre\u27s dark, mean streets. . . . A fascinating, readable, and provocative book. . . . Highly recommended. -- Choice An intellectually seductive, hard-boiled romp through a world of moral murkiness, femme fatales, and desperately lonely protagonist. -- Eric Bronson, editor of Baseball and Philosophy The collection aims to achieve two goals: to introduce genuine philosophical problems and film noir characteristics, while providing sufficiently in-depth discussion that those familiar with either philosophical methods or film noir will not find the material too elementary. Although facing a difficult task, Conard has put together a collection that succeeds in both respects. -- Intertexts Dense and intriguing, the book suggests noir is best perceived as a slightly warped mirror held up to contemporary society. -- Publishers Weekly An excellent book, giving readers a very good sense of the rich philosophical resources in film noir. -- Thomas Hibbs, author of Shows About Nothing: Nihilism in Popular Culture from t This collection of essays, delving into the films and elucidating their philosophical depths, is challenging and engaging. Read it and prepare to be provoked. -- Les Reid -- Philosophy Nowhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_american_popular_culture/1018/thumbnail.jp

An Initial Survey of White Dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

An initial assessment is made of white dwarf and hot subdwarf stars observed in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. In a small area of sky (190 square degrees), observed much like the full survey will be, 269 white dwarfs and 56 hot subdwarfs are identified spectroscopically where only 44 white dwarfs and 5 hot subdwarfs were known previously. Most are ordinary DA (hydrogen atmosphere) and DB (helium) types. In addition, in the full survey to date, a number of WDs have been found with uncommon spectral types. Among these are blue DQ stars displaying lines of atomic carbon; red DQ stars showing molecular bands of C_2 with a wide variety of strengths; DZ stars where Ca and occasionally Mg, Na, and/or Fe lines are detected; and magnetic WDs with a wide range of magnetic field strengths in DA, DB, DQ, and (probably) DZ spectral types. Photometry alone allows identification of stars hotter than 12000 K, and the density of these stars for 15<g<20 is found to be ~2.2 deg^{-2} at Galactic latitudes 29-62 deg. Spectra are obtained for roughly half of these hot stars. The spectra show that, for 15<g<17, 40% of hot stars are WDs and the fraction of WDs rises to ~90% at g=20. The remainder are hot sdB and sdO stars.Comment: Accepted for AJ; 43 pages, including 12 figures and 5 table

Overview of the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer Mission

The Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer satellite observes light in the far-ultraviolet spectral region, 905 - 1187 A with high spectral resolution. The instrument consists of four coaligned prime-focus telescopes and Rowland spectrographs with microchannel plate detectors. Two of the telescope channels use Al:LiF coatings for optimum reflectivity from approximately 1000 to 1187 A and the other two use SiC coatings for optimized throughput between 905 and 1105 A. The gratings are holographically ruled to largely correct for astigmatism and to minimize scattered light. The microchannel plate detectors have KBr photocathodes and use photon counting to achieve good quantum efficiency with low background signal. The sensitivity is sufficient to examine reddened lines of sight within the Milky Way as well as active galactic nuclei and QSOs for absorption line studies of both Milky Way and extra-galactic gas clouds. This spectral region contains a number of key scientific diagnostics, including O VI, H I, D I and the strong electronic transitions of H2 and HD.Comment: To appear in FUSE special issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. 6 pages + 4 figure

The RESET project: constructing a European tephra lattice for refined synchronisation of environmental and archaeological events during the last c. 100 ka

This paper introduces the aims and scope of the RESET project (. RESponse of humans to abrupt Environmental Transitions), a programme of research funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (UK) between 2008 and 2013; it also provides the context and rationale for papers included in a special volume of Quaternary Science Reviews that report some of the project's findings. RESET examined the chronological and correlation methods employed to establish causal links between the timing of abrupt environmental transitions (AETs) on the one hand, and of human dispersal and development on the other, with a focus on the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic periods. The period of interest is the Last Glacial cycle and the early Holocene (c. 100-8 ka), during which time a number of pronounced AETs occurred. A long-running topic of debate is the degree to which human history in Europe and the Mediterranean region during the Palaeolithic was shaped by these AETs, but this has proved difficult to assess because of poor dating control. In an attempt to move the science forward, RESET examined the potential that tephra isochrons, and in particular non-visible ash layers (cryptotephras), might offer for synchronising palaeo-records with a greater degree of finesse. New tephrostratigraphical data generated by the project augment previously-established tephra frameworks for the region, and underpin a more evolved tephra 'lattice' that links palaeo-records between Greenland, the European mainland, sub-marine sequences in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The paper also outlines the significance of other contributions to this special volume: collectively, these illustrate how the lattice was constructed, how it links with cognate tephra research in Europe and elsewhere, and how the evidence of tephra isochrons is beginning to challenge long-held views about the impacts of environmental change on humans during the Palaeolithic. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.RESET was funded through Consortium Grants awarded by the Natural Environment Research Council, UK, to a collaborating team drawn from four institutions: Royal Holloway University of London (grant reference NE/E015905/1), the Natural History Museum, London (NE/E015913/1), Oxford University (NE/E015670/1) and the University of Southampton, including the National Oceanography Centre (NE/01531X/1). The authors also wish to record their deep gratitude to four members of the scientific community who formed a consultative advisory panel during the lifetime of the RESET project: Professor Barbara Wohlfarth (Stockholm University), Professor Jørgen Peder Steffensen (Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen), Dr. Martin Street (Romisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Neuwied) and Professor Clive Oppenheimer (Cambridge University). They provided excellent advice at key stages of the work, which we greatly valued. We also thank Jenny Kynaston (Geography Department, Royal Holloway) for construction of several of the figures in this paper, and Debbie Barrett (Elsevier) and Colin Murray Wallace (Editor-in-Chief, QSR) for their considerable assistance in the production of this special volume.Peer Reviewe

The Philosophy of Neo-Noir

Film noir is a classic genre characterized by visual elements such as tilted camera angles, skewed scene compositions, and an interplay between darkness and light. Common motifs include crime and punishment, the upheaval of traditional moral values, and a pessimistic stance on the meaning of life and on the place of humankind in the universe. Spanning the 1940s and 1950s, the classic film noir era saw the release of many of Hollywood’s best-loved studies of shady characters and shadowy underworlds, including Double Indemnity, The Big Sleep, Touch of Evil, and The Maltese Falcon. Neo-noir is a somewhat loosely defined genre of films produced after the classic noir era that display the visual or thematic hallmarks of the noir sensibility. The essays collected in The Philosophy of Neo-Noir explore the philosophical implications of neo-noir touchstones such as Blade Runner, Chinatown, Reservoir Dogs, Memento, and the films of the Coen brothers. Through the lens of philosophy, Mark T. Conard and the contributors examine previously obscure layers of meaning in these challenging films. The contributors also consider these neo-noir films as a means of addressing philosophical questions about guilt, redemption, the essence of human nature, and problems of knowledge, memory and identity. In the neo-noir universe, the lines between right and wrong and good and evil are blurred, and the detective and the criminal frequently mirror each other’s most debilitating personality traits. The neo-noir detective—more antihero than hero—is frequently a morally compromised and spiritually shaken individual whose pursuit of a criminal masks the search for lost or unattainable aspects of the self. Conard argues that the films discussed in The Philosophy of Neo-Noir convey ambiguity, disillusionment, and disorientation more effectively than even the most iconic films of the classic noir era. Able to self-consciously draw upon noir conventions and simultaneously subvert them, neo-noir directors push beyond the earlier genre’s limitations and open new paths of cinematic and philosophical exploration. Mark T. Conard, assistant professor of philosophy at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, is the editor or coeditor of many books, including The Philosophy of Film Noir and The Philosophy of Martin Scorsese. Conard can fell confident that these terrific essays will be of interest to film enthusiasts, particularly fans of Neo-Noir. Additionally, for those who come to this volume with some background in philosophy, not only will they be pleased to find fellow philosophers offering accessible introductions to philosophical thinkers and ideas but they are sure to increase their understanding of noir, Neo-Noir, and many familiar film titles, as well as more deeply appreciate the ways in which popular film and television offer wide and varied avenues to doing good philosophy. --Kimberly A. Blessing, co-editor of Movies and the Meaning of Life Much has been written about neo-noir\u27s distinction from classic noir . . . but the 13 new essays in this anthology rejuvenate the discussion. Strongly recommended. --Library Journal Is Neo-Noir anything more than film noir in technicolor? Taking up such latter-day classics as Chinatown , Blade Runner , and Memento , this volume explores how contemporary filmmakers have taken up the challenge of classic film noir and broadened the genre. In this analysis, even the pastel shades of South Beach take on a dark coloring in Miami Vice . These probing essays locate what is neo in Neo-Noir and thus define it as a postmodern genre. --Paul Cantor, author of Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalizatio This collection will serve as a terrific interdisciplinary guide through the chaotic, intriguing world of postmodernist thought as it relates to film and philosophy. --Choice, publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries Much has been written about neo-noir’s distinction from classic noir . . . but the 13 new essays in this anthology rejuvenate the discussion. Conard and his contributors see to it that these essays are accessible to nonacademic readers. --Library Journal Conrad’s collection provides room for abstract thought through a sustained philosophical engagement with the sub-genre. . . . written in ‘nontechnical language and require no knowledge of philosophy to appreciate or understand.’ --Film-Philosophyhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_american_popular_culture/1019/thumbnail.jp