A key issue for the future direction of film studies is what is the nature of the perception film viewers have of a film and what is the nature of the perception characters in a film have of other characters in the fi...A key issue for the future direction of film studies is what is the nature of the perception film viewers have of a film and what is the nature of the perception characters in a film have of other characters in the film. The debate between the philosophers John McDowell and Hubert Dreyfus over the nature of perception in general illuminates this issue. McDowell argues that we must see perception as conceptual, while Dreyfus supports a non-conceptual view. McDowell's concept of second nature not only resolves this debate in his favor, but it provides a promising tool for the interpretation of individual films. Moreover, McDowell's conceptual view of perception rules out those approaches to the future of film studies that are based on a non-conceptualist framework. Finally, McDowell's approach leads to an emphasis on interpreting films with a focus on improving moral sensibilities. This perspective provides a viable blueprint for keeping film studies viable.展开更多
文摘A key issue for the future direction of film studies is what is the nature of the perception film viewers have of a film and what is the nature of the perception characters in a film have of other characters in the film. The debate between the philosophers John McDowell and Hubert Dreyfus over the nature of perception in general illuminates this issue. McDowell argues that we must see perception as conceptual, while Dreyfus supports a non-conceptual view. McDowell's concept of second nature not only resolves this debate in his favor, but it provides a promising tool for the interpretation of individual films. Moreover, McDowell's conceptual view of perception rules out those approaches to the future of film studies that are based on a non-conceptualist framework. Finally, McDowell's approach leads to an emphasis on interpreting films with a focus on improving moral sensibilities. This perspective provides a viable blueprint for keeping film studies viable.