Your final assignment in this class will be a term paper, in which you give a philosophical analysis based on a movie, tv show, or book. The paper can involve a (broadly speaking) moral or political philosophical analysis or a (broadly speaking) epistemological or metaphysical analysis. [Note: moral and political philosophy tend to be easier topics to write papers on.] Potential movies to use for papers on moral or political philosophy include: Fight Club, Fruitvale Station, A Clockwork Orange, Rope, American History X, Hannah Arendt, The Hunt (2013), V for Vendetta, 12 Years a Slave, The Truman Show, Rashomon, Watchmen, Serpico, Thank You for Smoking, Saving Private Ryan, Elysium, Selma, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Potential movies for papers on epistemology or metaphysics include: Blade Runner, Being John Malkovich, 12 Angry Men, Memento, Rashomon, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Ex Machina, Minority Report, Inception, The Truman Show, Stranger than Fiction, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
There are many more potential movies, in addition to television series and books. However, please do not choose a documentary film or series. Also, you cannot use The Matrix. If you have any questions about a movie, television show, and/or topic you are considering, email me a short description of why you think the movie/show/topic works.
Your assignment due this week will be to propose a paper topic and so will involve your choice of movie/tv show/book and a proposal for the philosophical issue you see in the movie and how you intend to address it in your paper (ideally linking the issue to something we’ve discussed or will discuss in class at some point in the semester). Your proposal must be at least 1/2 page (150 words). Here are a few examples too silly to use but which might help prompt your thoughts. (Note: do not use these examples; your proposals must go into more depth than these suggestions and should include your initial thoughts on the reasoning you intend to develop in your final paper. I recommend you try to get closer to a page in length (300 words), though the official minimum word count is 150.)
1) argue that the way the Decepticons treat the Autobots in Transformers would count as exploitation according to Iris Marion Young’s approach to oppression; 2) imagine the character Borat on trial for corrupting the youth based on his actions in his (first) movie, and have him defend himself in a Socratic way; 3) use different ethical points of view (for example, utilitarianism, Kantianism, and virtue theory) to consider Willy Wonka’s treatment of the various winners of Golden Tickets in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (book or movie).
Keep in mind that the analysis in the final paper will have to amount to an argument (e.g., that a certain character acted wrongly in doing a certain action), so you should make clear in your proposal that you will be arguing for something. In addition, keep in mind that showing higher-level reasoning by identifying and addressing a potential counterargument from the other side always makes an argument sound better.
Please do NOT do any research outside of the readings and notes from this class.