Ridley Scott's Blade Runner is widely regarded as a masterpiece of modern cinema and is regularly ranked as one of the great films of all time.
Set in a dystopian future where the line between human beings and 'replicants' is blurred, the film raises a host of philosophical questions about what it is to be human, the possibility of moral agency and freedom in 'created' life forms, and the capacity of cinema to make a genuine contribution to our engagement with these kinds of questions.
This is the first book to systematically explore and address these kinds of issues from a philosophical point of view. Beginning with a helpful introduction, seven specially commissioned chapters examine questions such: How is the theme of death explored in Blade Runner and with what implications for our understanding of the human condition? What can we learn about the relationship between emotion and reason from the depiction of the 'replicants' in Blade Runner? How are memory, empathy, and moral agency related in Blade Runner? How does the style and 'mood' of Blade Runner bear upon its thematic and philosophical significance? Is Blade Runner a meditation on the nature of film itself?
Including a brief biography of the director and a detailed list of references to other writings on the film, Blade Runner is essential reading for students - indeed anyone - interested in philosophy and film studies. Contributors: Colin Allen, Peter Atterton, Amy Coplan, David Davies, Berys Gaut, Stephen Mulhall, C. D. C. Reeve.
Edited by:
Amy Coplan (California State University - Fullerton USA),
David Davies
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 216mm,
Width: 138mm,
Spine: 13mm
Weight: 226g
ISBN: 9780415485852
ISBN 10: 0415485851
Series: Philosophers on Film
Pages: 186
Publication Date: 14 April 2015
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Further / Higher Education
,
A / AS level
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. Introduction Amy Coplan 2. Why Humans Dream of Emotional Machines Colin Allen 3. More Human than Human: Blade Runner Replicants, and Being-Toward Death Peter Atterton 4. If Only You Could See What I Have Seen with Your Eyes : Form and Content in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner Amy Coplan 5. Blade Runner, Electric Sheep , and the Cognitive Values of Fictional Narratives David Davies 6. Elegy in L.A.: Blade Runner, Empathy and Death Berys Gaut 7. Zhora Through the Looking Glass: Notes on an Esper Analysis of Leon's Photograph Stephen Mulhall 8. Replicant Love: Blade Runner Voight-Kampffed C.D.C. Reeve. Index
Amy Coplan is Associate Professor of Philosophy at California State University - Fullerton, USA.
