36 Educational Perspectives V Volume 42 V Numbers 1 and 2
Thinking Images: Doing Philosophy in Film and Video Graham Parkes Professor of Philosophy, University College Cork, Republic of Ireland
If Descartes were alive today, he would shut himself up in his bedroom with a 16mm camera and some film, and would be writing his philosophy on film: for his Discourse on Method would today be such that only the cinema could express it satisfactorily. Alexandre Astruc Film director and critic1
Over the past several decades film and video have been pages of any philosophical text could of course be filmed in steadily infiltrating the philosophy curriculum at colleges sequence, but even the visual interest of seeing hands other and universities. Traditionally, teachers of philosophy haven’t than one’s own turning the pages couldn’t make the experi- made much use of “audiovisual aids” in the classroom ence a match for simply reading the book.3 Filming an actor beyond the chalk board or overhead projector, with only the reading a philosophical text aloud—however brilliantly— more adventurous playing audiotapes, for example, or show- would hardly be more captivating. Perhaps a contemporary ing slides to provide historical context for a thinker’s work. thinker doing on camera what professional philosophers in But with the advent of videotapes it became financially part get paid to do: delivering a lecture? This has been done, feasible to show films in classes in order to stimulate or and many such videos are available for classroom use; but amplify discussions of philosophical issues. And now there since few philosophers nowadays are great lecturers the are numerous textbooks and anthologies of writings on the results are disappointing. Somewhat more interesting might topic of philosophy and film, not to mention several journals be the video of the philosopher being interviewed, or several (some of them online). philosophers in discussion. This has also been done, but one Among the recent proliferation of videos specifically can’t help feeling that a transcript of what is said would serve designed and produced for use in humanities courses, the as well, if not better.4 All that would be missed would be the offerings in philosophy have been relatively meager. After opportunity to say, “So that’s what So-and-So looks like.” all, what exactly does one show in order to enhance instruc- In their introduction to a recent issue of The Journal tion in philosophy? While some of Plato’s dialogues, the of Aesthetics and Art Criticism specially devoted to Symposium especially, lend themselves to being adapted for “Philosophy and Film,” Murray Smith and Thomas film, and the Myth of the Cave in the Republic cries out for Wartenberg pose the question: “To what extent can film visual presentation, these haven’t been treated satisfactorily. act as a vehicle of or forum for philosophy itself?”—the After all, by the time one gets to Kant there are grounds for question of “film as philosophy.”5 A major obstacle to the despair: the Sage of Königsberg seated at his desk pondering acceptance of the idea of film as philosophy has been the the transcendental deduction of categories is hardly the stuff breathtakingly narrow view of the discipline held by so of which great cinema is made. While talking used to be in many practitioners in the mainstream “analytical” tradition, the days of Socrates central to the philosophical enterprise, for whom it has to have arguments or it’s not philosophy. thinking and writing tend to predominate in modern times, This emphasis on the discursive nature of the discipline, and these do not easily allow spectacular visual portrayal.2 on proceeding to conclusions by way of reasoned argu- Given that philosophy is a discipline practiced in ment rather than intuition, catches an important feature of language, whether spoken or written, how can one “do philosophy but fails to give a full picture. There are many philosophy” in the visual media of film or video? The occasions in the dialogues of Plato, that master of reasoned New Media in Higher Education 37
argument, when the dialectic reaches an aporia and Socrates philosophy, or feature films that can illustrate philosophical then resorts to vivid imagery or the recounting of a myth to themes and issues, or—perhaps optimally—films that in fire his interlocutors’ desire for enlightenment. some sense “do philosophy” or are explicitly philosophical. It is true that “if philosophy is regarded as the attempt But if, as suggested earlier, the videos that are made to think systematically about fundamental issues of human expressly for the classroom are generally uninspiring, existence, it seems plausible to regard film as capable of what would it take to improve this situation? What styles embodying such acts of reflection,” but this reflection need and techniques would be most effective? Or, to pose a far not be systematic.6 In his own contribution to the special more radical question: what about using film and video not issue, Thomas Wartenberg questions the identification of just to enhance the teaching of philosophy and expand the philosophy with systematic thinking as being too narrow, audience of learners, but rather to do philosophy by using invoking the obvious exceptions of Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, visual media to generate philosophical understanding? In and Wittgenstein.7 Indeed many other philosophers from other words, innovate by extending the use of film and video Heraclitus to Deleuze have generated profound ideas about beyond the dissemination of knowledge and understanding existence in ways that are far from systematic: Epicurus, to new modes of knowledge production. Marcus Aurelius, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, Emerson, An autobiographical turn is, at this point unavoidable: and Heidegger are just a few names that come to mind. having worked in digital video for several years now with the (Not to mention that other philosophical traditions, such as aim of “doing philosophy” in visual media, I would like to the Chinese, have produced a profusion of philosophy in reflect on just what it is that I’ve been doing. Lack of funds which discursive thinking is absent or plays a minimal role.) to pay for such luxuries as camera crews, actors, or lights While reasoned argument may be a preferred strategy for to illuminate interviewees has necessitated a rather simple dogmatists convinced they are in possession of the truth, mode of production (do the videography “on location,” in more agnostic thinkers prompt reflection on existence by public places or natural surroundings) and a somewhat spare other means, such as irony, poetic allusion, correlation of style (visuals of environments, whether natural or built, ideas or types, hyperbolic assertion, enigmatic aphorism, and accompanied by ambient sound, and voice-over recorded so forth. after the fact). Lacking interviews or talking heads, these Incidentally, one might expect that films made by “video essays” (where the connotation of “essay” as a trying directors who have practiced the discipline of philosophy out, or testing, in experience outweighs that of a written would contain philosophical themes. Two exemplars confirm work) do not fit the standard documentary mold, and instead this expectation: Terrence Malick, who studied philosophy share some features with the experimental or art video. at Harvard and Oxford, and taught briefly at MIT, and Working at such a basic level allows one to distinguish Errol Morris, who was a graduate student in philosophy at several ways in which video might be used to practice UC Berkeley for a few years in the early 1970s. Malick’s philosophy, and a variety of techniques that lend themselves Badlands (1973), Days of Heaven (1978), and The Thin to elaborating philosophical ideas in digital media. Here are Red Line (1998), together with Morris’s Gates of Heaven the most significant: (1978), Vernon, Florida (1981), The Thin Blue Line (1988), &#HZijeVc^ciZgeaVnWZilZZck^hjVa^bV\ZhVcYbjh^X# and The Fog of War (2003), turn out to be unusually rich philosophically. (Strange that Days of Heaven and Gates of '#Egdk^YZk^hjVaXdciZmi[dgVe]^adhde]Zg¼hi]dj\]i# Heaven should have come out in the same year—and what is (#EgZhZcie]^adhde]^XVa^YZVhVcYZmZbea^[n!Vbea^[n! it about philosopher film-makers that they have colored lines ^aajhigViZi]Zb# in their titles?) The opening lines of Vernon, Florida, to give just one example, are: “Reality. You mean, this is the real )#EgVXi^XZ^gdcn!ZheZX^Vaani]gdj\]iZch^dcWZilZZceVhi world? I never thought of that.” VcYegZhZci# From an educational perspective, then, philosophers 5. Exemplify visually and orally modes of awareness. might enhance their teaching by showing documentaries or dramatizations that deal with the topic of philosophers and 6. Provide aesthetic pleasure while doing some of the above. 38 Educational Perspectives V Volume 42 V Numbers 1 and 2
We begin with the most difficult case, that of something Since I was in Berlin at the time, doing the videography central to what is added by digital media but which is ap- for a project inspired by Walter Benjamin about the ways parently farthest from philosophy because it works without a city commemorates its past, I looked for and found language—namely, music. photographs from 1930 in an illustrated magazine in the State Library. To set up a tension between these images 1. Interplay between images and music. About the relation- and images from the postmodern metropolis that Berlin ship between images and music Schopenhauer wrote that is now in the process of becoming, and especially images “when scenes or activities are accompanied by appropri- of places of remembrance and destruction, could enhance ate music, the sound seems to open up their most secret the meanings of the music. Schoenberg wrote almost sense and meaning, and to constitute the clearest com- nothing about his Music to Accompany a Film Scene, mentary on them.” Indeed, according to Schopenhauer but he did name each of its three parts: “Threatening “music lets any painting, or scene from real life and the Danger,” “Angst,” and “Catastrophe.” In this piece he world, stand forth in heightened significance.”8 This clearly anticipates the Holocaust to come, and in view of passage appealed greatly, and unsurprisingly, to both the many philosophical discussions of that event which Richard Wagner and to Nietzsche, who quotes it with emphasize the failure of language to convey the horror, approval in The Birth of Tragedy. Wagner put the idea I thought it best to follow the composer’s example by into practice to brilliant effect in his operas—and indeed saying very little, in order to let the viewer and listener he was writing magnificent film music long before the participate in the attempt to make sense and construct medium was invented and the genre developed. meaning. The soundtrack to a film adds not only ambient “real world” sounds, whether recorded on location or in the [Video excerpts illustrating these techniques can be studio, but also voices speaking language. But when viewed online. See Arnold Schoenberg’s Begleitmusik: music is added, the viewer’s body is called upon to deal Images for the Music, part 2 http://www.hawaii.edu/ with additional kinds of meaning other than linguistic. edper/movies/Ex1.mov ] This already happens to an extent when philosophy is [Arnold Schoenberg’s Begleitmusik: Images for the written in poetry or poetic prose, where some of the Music, part 3 http://www.hawaii.edu/edper/movies/Ex2. meaning is coming through tempo, rhythm, assonance, mov ] cadence, etc. A paradigm case of this is Nietzsche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which he characterizes not only as 2. Visual context for a philosopher’s thought. In spite of a music but even as “a symphony.”9 tendency in the western traditions to regard philosophical thinking as an activity that transcends the particular One of the greatest composers to write film music was circumstances of the thinker in an ascent toward some Arnold Schoenberg, who in 1930, while he was living kind of theoria, or contemplation of universals that are in Berlin, wrote a ten-minute composition with the title, beyond space and time, the philosophies of some thinkers Music to Accompany a Film Scene (Begleitmusik zu einer are explicitly dependent on place: names such as Rous- Lichtspielszene). This was to be a collaboration with the seau, Nietzsche, Thoreau, and Heidegger spring to mind. Hungarian photographer and film-maker, Laszlo Moholy- Nietzsche in particular emphasizes the importance of the Nagy, but for various reasons the project foundered and particular places where certain thoughts came to him, no film has ever been made (as far as I know) to accom- and so to be shown the Swiss Alpine landscape where the pany the music. It occurred to me that, with a composer thought of eternal recurrence struck him may enhance as philosophically interesting as Schoenberg, it would be our appreciation of that difficult idea. worth while to attempt the counterpart of what Schopen- hauer discusses and put images to the music rather than A BBC production from 1999, in which “various the other way round—in the hope that the images would biographers, translators, and members of Nietzsche “open up the most secret sense and meaning” of the organizations speak about the philosopher, his music and let it “stand forth in heightened significance.” philosophical ideas, and influence” (program summary), New Media in Higher Education 39
also goes beyond the standard television documentary out that Chinese ideographs (which he mistakenly calls format now and then. It shows, for example, a well “Japanese hieroglyphs”) can express abstract concepts mustached actor hiking in the landscape of Switzerland’s by juxtaposing representations of concrete elements: Upper Engadin, where the thought of eternal recurrence “the representation of an ear next to a drawing of a door came to him. The program also goes too far in showing means ‘to listen’ … a knife and a heart mean ‘sorrow’, spectacular scenes, shot from a helicopter, of the lone and so on.”12 philosopher climbing a mountain ridge several thousand The point is that the … combination of two hieroglyphs feet above the highest point to which Nietzsche himself, of the simplest series is regarded not as their sum total with his poor eyesight, ever dared to venture. Because but as their product, i.e. as a value of another dimension, of the robust perspectivism in Nietzsche’s philosophy another degree: each taken separately corresponds to an (the view that our experience of the world is a function object but their combination corresponds to a concept. … of multiple perspectives that are dependent on our But—this is montage!! life situation and projections from past experiences, prejudices, fears, hopes, and so forth), the multiplicity of On the analogy of this feature of the East-Asian talking heads in this program is especially appropriate, ideograph, where “two independent ideographic but the programme is greatly enhanced by the portrayal characters (‘shots’) are juxtaposed and explode into a of the places that were important for Nietzsche.10 concept,” Eisenstein characterizes filmic montage as “a collision [in which] two factors give rise to an idea.”13 When an idea is related to a particular place, perhaps by having occurred to the thinker while he was there, video An example from Eisenstein’s 1927 film October (Ten offers the opportunity to show the place directly rather Days that Shook the World) suggests the power of than having to describe it using language. This wouldn’t this technique to work toward “intellectual cinema.” matter in the case of abstract ideas or with a theoretical A montage sequence that moves from a shot of a philosophy that presumes in its universality to transcend magnificent Baroque statue of Christ, through shots of time and space, but is helpful in the case of a thinker like Chinese bodhisattvas, Indian Buddhas, Hindu deities, Nietzsche who often thinks it important that a particular and icons of various other religions, to a shot of an idea should have come to him in a particular place. When Eskimo idol problematizes the idea of the divine. As a scene in a video shows a place, it shows it as it looked Eisenstein describes the intended effect, “We retain when the video was recorded—presumably, in the case the description ‘God’ and show idols that in no way of digital video, at some time in the recent past. But in a correspond with our image of this concept. From this place where the built environment is lacking, or is old, we are to draw anti-religious conclusions as to what it can look as it could have looked in the past—in, say, the divine as such really is.”14 A later example from a the late nineteenth century. Embedding the scene in a different film is a sequence in Andrzej Wajda’s Samson historical narrative setting it in the past will enhance this (1961) in which the protagonist, a Jew in Warsaw, effect. approaches a fence behind which a large column of Jews is being led to the ghetto: as he approaches, the camera 3. Present a philosophical idea, and exemplify, amplify or shows Nazi soldiers nailing up what appears to be a illustrate it visually.11 An important figure in this context wooden cross—but which turns out to be the framework is the Russian director Sergei Eisenstein, who explored for an imprisoning fence. This sequence of images raises the possibilities of “intellectual cinema” in essays he the question of the responsibility of the Catholic church wrote in the late 1920s. In an afterword to a book on for the persecution of the Jews in Poland.15 Japanese cinema, Eisenstein argues that montage—the technique of juxtaposing different shots in (usually In the early 1930s Rudolf Arnheim pointed out the rapid) succession—is an important element of Japanese mysterious way in which slow motion in film doesn’t representational culture, even though he believes that look like ordinary motion slowed down, but results in Japanese cinema is innocent of the technique. He points movements “which do not appear as the retarding of 40 Educational Perspectives V Volume 42 V Numbers 1 and 2
natural movements, but have a curious gliding, floating interesting than showing these juxtapositions illustrated character of their own.”16 Walter Benjamin drew wider would be to show different examples: say, the tuba implications about cinema from this phenomenon, behind the potted palm, the stuffed bird next to the ice suggesting that the film camera is capable of disclosing skates, and the travel clock obscuring the lithograph of what psychoanalysis and depth psychology refer to as the palace interior. “the unconscious.” [Walter Benjamin’s Paris, chapter 9 http://www.hawaii. With the close-up, space expands; with slow motion, edu/edper/movies/Ex3.mov ] movement is extended. And just as enlargement not Another possibility is to present a philosophical idea in merely clarifies what we see indistinctly “in any case,” language, whether spoken in voice-over or written on but brings to light entirely new structures of matter, slow an intertitle, and then to amplify it by means of visual motion not only reveals familiar aspects of movements, images. This process is more complex, and potentially but discloses quite unknown aspects within them … more interesting, than simply illustrating the idea. Clearly it is another nature which speaks to the camera as Amplification employs images that reinforce the thought, compared to the eye. “Other” above all in the sense that allude to possible extensions or parallels, explicate a space informed by human consciousness gives way to features implicit in it, and so forth. Benjamin for example a space informed by the unconscious. … This is where suggests that new building technologies touch an the camera comes into play, with all its resources for archetypal nerve that fires up images from childhood and swooping and rising, disrupting and isolating, stretching activates my themes from the childhood of the race.20 or compressing a sequence, enlarging or reducing an Here is a scene that exemplifies ideas about the relations object. It is through the camera that we first discover the between myth and technology by finding and showing optical unconscious, just as we discover the instinctual mythic or archetypal images in scenes of (in this case) unconscious through psychoanalysis.17 structures heading toward dilapidation. All the film-maker needs to do, then, is to employ slow [Walter Benjamin’s Paris, chapter 5 http://www.hawaii. motion appropriately—and there it is: a philosophical edu/edper/movies/Ex4.mov ] idea exemplified. The freeze-frame is similarly capable of revealing hitherto unknown aspects of the world by Two other techniques can be used that allude to, or stopping motion abruptly, a technique that also shows exemplify, features of philosophical thinking: the rather than tells the genesis of the still photograph or telephoto zoom and the soft focus (both of which were snapshot. operative in the last example). A telephoto lens with a More recently, Thomas Wartenberg has shown how well long focal length “compresses the space” in such a way Charles Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936) illustrates Marx’s that objects that are actually far apart appear unusually idea (Karl’s, not Groucho’s) of the “mechanization” of close together, while observed texture gradients and optic human activity brought about by industrial capitalism.18 flows produce a distortion of perspective. In this way the One can also exemplify an idea while deliberately not scene, because it looks more two-dimensional, takes on a illustrating it, thereby drawing attention to the tension schematic or abstract appearance. One can zoom in with between film’s ability to exemplify and to illustrate. We a long telephoto lens to such a tight close-up of the object might hear, for example, Walter Benjamin’s reflections of the ultimate focus that one is left with an abstract on the mysterious juxtapositions one finds in the display pattern that isn’t easily recognizable as the object. In windows of certain shops in the Paris arcades: “The the case of the Paris arcades, for example, an extreme items on display are a rebus: how ought one to read telephoto shot of a small portion of an iron-and-glass roof here the birdseed in the fixative pan, the flower seeds may, in its abstractness, suggest the abstract dynamics of beside the binoculars, the broken screw on the musical iron-and-glass construction better than a wider-angle shot score, and the revolver atop the goldfish bowl?”19 More in which the roof is easily recognizable. New Media in Higher Education 41
I]ZgZkZghZegdXZhhWg^c\h^cVcZlZaZbZci!^chd[VgVh^i VXXdbeVcni]Zk^hjVacVggVi^kZ^cV]Vgbdc^djhVcY ]ZaehbV`Zi]Ze]^adhde]^XVaed^cii]VidjgjcYZghiVcY" Zc]VcX^c\lVn/jhjVaanl]VilZVgZ]ZVg^c\^hl]VilZ ^c\d[Vi]^c\dgZkZci^hValVnhYZeZcYZcidci]ZXdciZmi# VgZhZZ^c\!i]dj\]^ibVnWZZc]VcXZYWn cdc"Y^Z\Zi^X I]^hXVcWZZ[[ZXiZYWnWZ\^cc^c\l^i]VcZmigZbZ bjh^Xdci]ZhdjcYigVX`#>[lZ]ZVgkd^XZ"dkZg!^ijhjVaan iZaZe]didh]dil]^X]egZhZcihVh^beaZVWhigVXieViiZgc ldg`h^cVh^b^aVglVn!cVggVi^c\!Vbea^[n^c\!dgXdb" i]Vil^aacdiWZgZXd\c^oVWaZVhVcneVgi^XjaVgdW_ZXi#6h bZci^c\dcl]VilZVgZhZZ^c\#7ji^[i]ZhdjcYigVX` i]ZXVbZgVejaahWVX`!^i^hi]Z\gVYjVa^cigdYjXi^dcd[ \dZhV\V^chidgXdcigVY^Xihi]Zk^hjVacVggVi^kZ!i]Z^gdc^X bdgZVcYbdgZXdciZmii]VibV`Zhi]ZdW_ZXigZXd\c^o" iZch^dcegdbeihjhidVh`l]^X]dcZ^hgZVa#6[iZgVaa! VWaZ#Hd[i[dXjhXVcldg`^cVh^b^aVglVn/VcZmigZbZan gZVai]^c\hXdbZVcY\d!VcYk^hjVabdciV\Zd[hXZcZh^c hd[i[dXjhegdYjXZhhjX]VkV\jZ^bV\Z!a^`ZXadjYhd[ ^gdc^XiZch^dcXVcXdckZn![dgZmVbeaZ!i]Z^ciZgeaVnd[ kVg^djhXdadgh!i]Vii]ZdW_ZXi^hV\V^cjcgZXd\c^oVWaZ#6 egZhZcXZVcYVWhZcXZi]ViXdcY^i^dchgZVa^in# \gVYjVabdkZidh]Vge[dXjhXVci]Zc\^kZVc^begZhh^dc >ceVgi^XjaVgdcZXVchZijeViZch^dcWZilZZceVhiVcY VcVad\djhidVkV\jZ^YZV¼hWZXdb^c\XaZVgZgVcYÄcVaan egZhZciWn\^k^c\Vhed`ZccVggVi^kZi]Vi^h]^hidg^XVaan Y^hi^cXi# h^ijViZY^c!VcYgZ[Zghid!i]ZeVhid[VeaVXZ!l]^aZ h]dl^c\hXZcZhd[i]VieaVXZ^c^ihegZhZciXdcY^i^dc#I]Z )#DcZXVcZbeadnk^hjVabZY^V^chZgk^XZd[i]ZkZcZgVWaZ kd^XZ"dkZg]ZgZ^h[gdbVgVY^dWgdVYXVhi[dgX]^aYgZc e]^adhde]^XVaegVXi^XZd[^gdcn#I]ZÄghi\gZVi^gdc^hi^c i]Vi7Zc_Vb^cbVYZ^ci]ZaViZ&.'%hVWdjii]Z[Vbdjh i]ZlZhiZgce]^adhde]^XVaigVY^i^dc^hHdXgViZh!l]dd[iZc 7dgh^\adXdbdi^kZldg`hdjih^YZ7Zga^c# hVnhdcZi]^c\l]^aZbZVc^c\Vcdi]Zg jhjVaandeedh^iZ i]^c\!hdbZi]^c\hiViZYZahZl]ZgZ^c]^hY^hXdjghZdg PLVaiZg7Zc_Vb^c¼h7Zga^c!¹7dgh^\Ldg`hº]iie/$$lll# ^bea^ZYWni]ZaVg\ZgXdciZmid[]^hjiiZgVcXZ#GVi]Zgi]Vc ]VlV^^#ZYj$ZYeZg$bdk^Zh$:m*#bdkR \ZcZgVi^c\VcZ^i]Zg$dgY^X]didbn^cl]^X]lZiV`Zi]Z jiiZgVcXZVcY^ihXdjciZgeVgiVhZmXajY^c\dcZVcdi]Zg! L]ZcZ[[ZXiZYi]gdj\]kd^XZ"dkZgXdbW^cZYl^i] ^gdcn^ci]ZHdXgVi^XY^Vad\jZhd[iZchZihjeVWdi]$VcY [V^gan¹hjW_ZXi^kZºXVbZgVldg`!i]ZegZhZciVi^dcd[V h^ijVi^dcl]ZgZWnWdi]i]ZjiiZgVcXZVcY^ihXdjciZgeVgi e]^adhde]Zg¼h^YZVhidhdbZZmiZci^bea^ZhVeegdkVa!dg VgZ]ZaY^ciZch^dcVhZfjVaankVa^Y# V\gZZbZcil^i]i]Zb#I]ZXdbW^cVi^dcd[^bV\ZhVcY hdjcYiZcYhidWjiigZhhi]Z^YZVh#7jidcZXVcVahdcZ\ViZ HdbZi^bZh^ibVnWZi]ZjchV^Y^YZVVadcZi]ViEaVid k^hjVaanVc^YZVi]Vi^hWZ^c\]ZVgYkd^XZ"dkZg#LZb^\]i lVcihidegdbdiZ!VcY^ci]ZhZXVhZhdcZ^hegdbeiZY ]ZVgLVaiZg7Zc_Vb^cgZXdjci^c\l^i]VeegdkVal]Vi]^h idgZVYVcYa^hiZcWZilZZci]Za^cZh[dgi]Z^ciZcYZY [g^ZcY7ZgidaY7gZX]ihV^YVWdjie]did\gVe]h!i]Vii]Zn bZVc^c\!i]ZgZWneVgi^X^eVi^c\^ci]ZkZgnegdXZhhd[ XVc¹gZXdgYegVXi^XVaancdi]^c\d[i]ZZhhZcXZd[hdbZ" e]^adhde]^XVa^cfj^gn#E]^adhde]^XVa^gdcnYdZhc¼igZfj^gZ i]^c\a^`ZVbdYZgc[VXidgn#º'&7jiVii]ZhVbZi^bZlZ i]ZY^Vad\jZ[dgb!VhZk^YZcXZYWni]Z^gdc^XVahigViZ\^Zh VgZhZZ^c\i]Z[Vbdjh¹IjgW^cZ=Vaaºi]ViEZiZg7Z]gZch egVXi^XZYWnbdgZgZXZcii]^c`Zgha^`Z@^Zg`Z\VVgYVcY Wj^ai[dg6:<^c7Zga^c^c&.%.!dcZd[i]ZÄghiWj^aY^c\h C^ZiohX]Z#I]Z^ge]^adhde]^Zhi]jh]VkZidWZZc\V\ZY idaZcYVgX]^iZXijgVaY^\c^inidi]Z^cYjhig^Valdg`eaVXZ Zm^hiZci^Vaan!ZmeZg^bZci^c\l^i]i]ZYjVaVcYbjai^eaZ VcVX]^ZkZbZcii]ViWdi]7gZX]iVcY7Zc_Vb^cbjhi eZgheZXi^kZhi]Znd[[Zg!l]^X]VgZcZkZgbVYZ[jaan ]VkZVeegZX^ViZY !^cVhZg^Zhd[hi^aahXZcZhi]VigZcYZgh Zmea^X^iWjiValVnhgZfj^gZi]ZgZVYZg¼hi]^c`^c\eVgi^X^" 7gZX]i¼hXaV^bfjZhi^dcVWaZ# eVi^dc# PLVaiZg7Zc_Vb^c¼h7Zga^c!¹7Z]gZch6:<º]iie/$$lll# ;^abVcYk^YZdaZcYi]ZbhZakZhid^gdcnWZXVjhZ ]VlV^^#ZYj$ZYeZg$bdk^Zh$:m+#bdkR i]ZnXdbW^cZildY^hi^cXibZY^V!k^hjVa^bV\ZhVcY hdjcYigVX`¸Wdi]d[l]^X]XVcegZhZciaVc\jV\Z#;^ab^X 7Zc_Vb^c^ckd`ZhV[dgbjaVi^dcWni]ZhnbWda^hi ^bV\ZhcVijgVaan\^kZi]Z^begZhh^dcd[h]dl^c\hdbZ eV^ciZgDY^adcGZYdcl]^X]ejghjZh^gdcnidi]Zed^ci `^cYd[gZVa^in!YZiZgb^cZYWnl]Vii]ZnVgZ^bV\Zhd[# d[bnhiZgnVcYVci^X^eViZhe]^adhde]^XVaanZ[[ZXi^kZ LZVgZVXXjhidbZYid]Vk^c\i]ZhdjcYigVX`d[VÄab iZX]c^fjZhVkV^aVWaZidi]ZÄab"bV`Zg/¹I]ZhZchZ 42 Educational Perspectives V Volume 42 V Numbers 1 and 2
d[bnhiZgn!i]Zsecret of which we have learned from VabdhihVni]ViX^cZbV^hVbdYZad[XdchX^djhcZhh^ihZa[# Leonardo da Vinci, cdbZh[gdbValVnhgZbV^c^c\^ci]Z
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ejgedhZ!VcY^hi]jhjcjhjVaandeZcidi]Zbjai^ijYZd[ One can play a visual variation on an idea expressed ZkZcihVcYi]^c\h\d^c\dc^ci]ZX^inhXVeZ#>ci]^hbdYZ verbally. With the colportage phenomenon of space: d[ZmeZg^ZcXZdcZWZXdbZhZheZX^VaanVlVgZd[i]ZlVnh instead of showing events from different times in the i]Vi!^cVX^ina^`ZEVg^hl]ZgZbdhid[i]ZWj^aiZck^gdc" same place, one can show different parts of the same bZci^hXZcijg^ZhdaY!i]ZeVhiZbVcViZh!Vh^ilZgZ![gdb place at the same time. This can be extended to a play on i]ZX^in¼hhigZZihVcYhigjXijgZh/¹I]ZhigZZiXdcYjXih the phenomenological insight that our perception of the i]ZÅ}cZjg^cidVkVc^h]ZYi^bZ#;dg]^b!ZkZgnhigZZi constancy of moving things, or things in relation to which ^hegZX^e^idjh#>iaZVYhYdlclVgY¸^[cdiidi]Zbni]^" we are moving, results from a synthesis of a potentially XVaBdi]Zgh!i]Zc^cidVeVhii]ViXVcWZVaai]ZbdgZ infinite series of “profiles” of, or perspectives on, the heZaaW^cY^c\WZXVjhZ^i^hcdi]^hdlc!cdieg^kViZ#º'+ object of perception.
6ahd7VjYZaV^gZ!l]dX]VgVXiZg^oZhi]Zbjai^eZgheZXi^kVa The film-maker can induce an experience of temporal edhh^W^a^i^Zhd[VlVgZcZhh^ciZgbhd[VXdjeaZd[h^beaZ overlap in the viewer within the compass of the film WjiheZXiVXjaVgdei^XVaYZk^XZh/¹I]ZeZg[ZXiÅ}cZjg°^h or video, simply by setting up an interplay between the a^`ZVb^ggdgVhkVhiVhi]ZXgdlY^ihZa[!dgV`VaZ^YdhXdeZ visual narrative and the soundtrack. One presents some ZcYdlZYl^i]XdchX^djhcZhh!l]^X]!l^i]ZVX]dcZd[ language visually: a piece of text, say, for the viewer to ^ihbdkZbZcih!gZegZhZcihi]Zbjai^ea^X^ind[a^[ZVcY read. If it is re-presented later in the same way, the viewer i]ZYncVb^X\gVXZd[Vaaa^[Z¼hZaZbZcih#º',I]ZWjhia^c\ will notice the repetition, but will perhaps also reflect Xdbbdi^dcd[i]ZbdYZgcX^inegdbeihVegda^[ZgVi^dcd[ on how it appears differently insofar as it’s recognized eZgheZXi^kZh!VcYl^i]ZVX]ijgcdci]ZhigZZih!VY^[[Zg" as a repetition, and also because it’s appearing in a ZcihZid[eZgheZXi^kZhXdbW^cZhidegdYjXZVcZlVcY different context. But if one re-presents the words in a XdbeaZmk^hjVaZmeZg^ZcXZ# different medium, in voice-over rather than writing, the viewer will experience a fusion of temporal horizons PLVaiZg7Zc_Vb^c¼hEVg^h!X]VeiZg']iie/$$lll#]VlV^^# analogous to (and perhaps prompting reflection on) the ZYj$ZYeZg$bdk^Zh$:m.#bdkR way memories work in everyday experience. If through ;^abVcYk^YZdVgZZb^cZcianhj^iZY[dgegZhZci^c\i]Z experiences of superimposition and overlap, as Benjamin bjai^"iZbedgVacVijgZd[VlVgZcZhh!^chd[VgVhdcZXVc says, “truth becomes something living … in the rhythm jhZi]ZiZX]c^fjZd[hjeZg^bedh^i^dcidhj\\Zhi![dg by which statement and counterstatement displace each ZmVbeaZ!i]ZlVnVhXZcZgZbZbWZgZY[gdbi]ZeVhi^h other in order to think each other,” then film and video igVcheVgZcianhjeZg^bedhZYdkZgl]Vi^hWZ^c\hZZc^c are ideally suited to the pursuit of that elusive goal.29 i]ZegZhZci# 6. Lastly, aesthetic pleasure as a concomitant to doing 7Zc_Vb^cZbe]Vh^oZhi]ZiZbedgVa^ind[dkZgaVe^c philosophy. While the more puritanical writers have been ]^hY^hXjhh^dcd[i]Z ejooa^c\ancVbZY ¹XdaedgiV\Z suspicious of beautiful style in philosophy, some thinkers e]ZcdbZcdcd[heVXZº/ have thought that it performs an important pedagogical function. Socrates for example regarded eros, desire I]Z[jcYVbZciVaZmeZg^ZcXZd[i]Z[a}cZjg^hd[ stimulated by beauty, as crucial for philosophical i]Z¹XdaedgiV\Ze]ZcdbZcdcd[heVXZ!º^cl]^X] thinking, teaching, and learning, while Nietzsche ZkZgni]^c\i]ViediZci^Vaan]VeeZcZY^cVeVgi^XjaVg was equally emphatic on this point—to the point of eaVXZ^hZmeZg^ZcXZYVaaVidcXZ# HjX]ZmeZg^ZcXZh calling his writings both Versuche (essays, attempts) d[hjeZg^bedh^i^dc!dgdkZgaVe!VgZZheZX^VaanXdb" and Versuchungen (temptations, seductions). Beautiful bdc^ci]ZldgaYd[]Vh]^h]# I]ZeaVXZl^c`hVi style, then, serves the function of inducing the reader to i]Z[a}cZjg/¹Cdll]ViYdndji]^c`bVn]VkZ participate in the play (and work) of thinking. Similarly, \dcZdc]ZgZ4º'- philosophical film and video will work best when they PLVaiZg7Zc_Vb^c¼hEVg^h!X]VeiZg-]iie/$$lll#]VlV^^# not only instruct but also captivate by way of the aesthetic ZYj$ZYeZg$bdk^Zh$:m&%#bdk ] pleasure they provide. New Media in Higher Education 45
Enlightenment according to later Buddhist philosophy ENDNOTES is not a matter of going across to the other world in &6aZmVcYgZ6higjX!¹I]Z7^gi]d[VCZl6kVci" &'HZg\Z^:^hZchiZ^c!¹7ZndcYi]ZH]diº &.'. !^cG^X]VgYIVnadg ZY# I]Z:^hZchiZ^cGZVYZg AdcYdc!&..- !-'·-(# &(:^hZchiZ^c!¹I]Z9gVbVijg\nd[;^ab;dgbº &.'. !VcY ¹7ZndcYi]ZH]di!º^cI]Z:^hZchiZ^cGZVYZg!.*!-,# &):^hZchiZ^c!¹I]Z9gVbVijg\nd[;^ab;dgb!º&%.·&%# &*HZZGdn=jhhVcYCdgbVcH^akZghiZ^c!I]Z;^ab:meZg^ZcXZ CZlNdg`!&.+- !('·((# &+GjYda[6gc]Z^b!;^abVh6gi 7Zg`ZaZn!&.*, !&&+·&,# Dg^\^cVa &,LVaiZg7Zc_Vb^c!¹I]ZLdg`d[6gi^ci]Z6\Zd[^ihIZX]c^XVa GZegdYjX^W^a^inº i]^gYkZgh^dc!&.(. !^cHZaZXiZYLg^i^c\h 8VbWg^Y\Z!BVhh#VcYAdcYdc!'%%( !kdajbZ)/'+*·++# &-LVgiZcWZg\!?668/'-·(%# &.LVaiZg7Zc_Vb^c!I]Z6gXVYZhEgd_ZXi 8VbWg^Y\Z!BVhh#VcY AdcYdc!&... !*)%PG'!(R# '%7Zc_Vb^c!I]Z6gXVYZhEgd_ZXi!)+&PC'V!&R# '&LVaiZg7Zc_Vb^c!¹7Zga^c8]gdc^XaZ!º^cHZaZXiZYLg^i^c\h! kda#'!eVgi'!e#*..# ''7Zc_Vb^c!I]Z6gXVYZhEgd_ZXi!)'.PB+V!&R!fjdi^c\V;gZcX] Vji]dg^ckd`^c\VeVhhV\Z[gdbGZYdc¼hcdiZWdd`h# '(9gZVbhVgZd[iZcjcYZghiddYdci]ZVcVad\nd[hZZ^c\V[^ab l]^aZVhaZZe¸hdi]VihdbZeZdeaZZkZc^bV\^cZi]ZnYgZVb¹^c WaVX`VcYl]^iZºgVi]Zgi]Vc^cXdadg# ')EgVXi^XZhhjX]VhoVoZc!h^ii^c\bZY^iVi^dc^cOZc7jYY]^hb! Xjai^kViZeVi^ZcXZ^ci]Z[VXZd[i]ZgVc\^c\b^cY!VcYXdch^hi^c VcVaZgilV^i^c\[dgi]ZWVWWaZd[^ciZgcVahdjcYVcY[a^X`Zgd[ ^bV\ZhidhjWh^YZ# '*7Zc_Vb^c!I]Z6gXVYZhEgd_ZXi!)&.PB'!)R# '+7Zc_Vb^c!I]Z6gXVYZhEgd_ZXi!)&+PB&!'R# ',7Zc_Vb^c!I]Z6gXVYZhEgd_ZXi!))(PB&)V!&R!fjdi^c\V eVhhV\Z[gdb7VjYZaV^gZ¼hZhhVn¹I]ZEV^ciZgd[BdYZgcA^[Z#º '-7Zc_Vb^c!I]Z6gXVYZhEgd_ZXi!)&-·&.PB&V!(R# '.7Zc_Vb^c!I]Z6gXVYZhEgd_ZXi!)&-PB&V!&R# (%=Zcgn9Vk^YI]dgZVj!?djgcVa!-/))