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What is ‘the good’ of the film experience? And how does the budding field of ‘film as philosophy’ answer this question? Charting new routes for film ethics, Martin P. Rossouw develops a critical account of the transformational ethics at work within the ‘film as philosophy’ debate. Whenever philosophers claim that films can do philosophy, they also persistently put forward edifying practical effects – potential transformations of thought and experience – as the benefit of viewing such films. Through rigorous appraisals of key arguments, and with reference to the cinema of Terrence Malick, Rossouw pieces together the idea of an inner makeover through cinema – a cinemakeover – which casts a distinct vision of film spectatorship as a practice of self-transformation.
"Recasting much of the existing debate, Martin Rossouw’s [...] emphasis on film’s power for enacting ethical transformation, rather than theoretical insight or discovery, gives a much-needed shot in the arm to a topic whose development has stalled in recent years. [...] This highly original book offers a unique and provocative contribution to the scholarship. Rossouw is a persistent questioner, often demonstrating sharp philosophical instincts."
-Shawn Loht, Philosophy in Review, Vol. 43 no. 1 (February 2023).
"At once a comprehensive record and a ceaseless meta-critique, Rossouw’s Transformational Ethics of Film is a thorough and bittersweet investigation into the aspiration and limits of this strand of film-philosophy scholarship [...]. [...] Rossouw’s detailed commitment to this critical exercise both provides a bountiful resource for film ethics scholarship, bringing organized clarity to an otherwise scattered but nonetheless commanding school of thought, and presents a potentially radical prospect for the position of meta-hermeneutics in the world of art theory."
-Daniel E. Smith, New Review of Film and Television Studies, Vol. 22 no. 2 (July 2024).
"Recasting much of the existing debate, Martin Rossouw’s [...] emphasis on film’s power for enacting ethical transformation, rather than theoretical insight or discovery, gives a much-needed shot in the arm to a topic whose development has stalled in recent years. [...] This highly original book offers a unique and provocative contribution to the scholarship. Rossouw is a persistent questioner, often demonstrating sharp philosophical instincts."
-Shawn Loht, Philosophy in Review, Vol. 43 no. 1 (February 2023).
"At once a comprehensive record and a ceaseless meta-critique, Rossouw’s Transformational Ethics of Film is a thorough and bittersweet investigation into the aspiration and limits of this strand of film-philosophy scholarship [...]. [...] Rossouw’s detailed commitment to this critical exercise both provides a bountiful resource for film ethics scholarship, bringing organized clarity to an otherwise scattered but nonetheless commanding school of thought, and presents a potentially radical prospect for the position of meta-hermeneutics in the world of art theory."
-Daniel E. Smith, New Review of Film and Television Studies, Vol. 22 no. 2 (July 2024).
Price: $175.00
Pages: 316
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Publication Date:
03 June 2021
ISBN: 9789004459953
Format: Hardcover
"Martin Rossouw’s engaging, rigorous, and original book on the ‘film-philosophy’ movement breaks new ground in the ‘film as philosophy’ debate. By exploring film-philosophers’ implicit commitments to a ‘transformational ethics’, he deepens our understanding of the ethical potential, as well as theoretical limits, of film-philosophy. Essential reading for anyone concerned with film and philosophy." - Robert Sinnerbrink (Macquarie University), author of Cinematic Ethics and Terrence Malick: Filmmaker and Philosopher.
"Rossouw approaches the question of the ethical impact of film upon its audience in a refreshing and original manner. Using Johann Visagie’s theory of ethical transformation, Rossouw posits a complex process by means of which members of a film’s audience can come to enhance their moral perspective. This is an important work that all those interested in the relationship between film and ethics will have to take seriously." - Thomas E. Wartenberg (Mount Holyoke College), author of Thinking on Screen: Film as Philosophy and Mel Bochner: Illustrating Philosophy.
“Rossouw’s conversational register [...] conjures a friendly and approachable philosopher figure who truly wants to communicate, to share in dialogic joys, not simply to evince a discursive authority. The fun of philosophy shines through... [Transformational Ethics of Film] represents a significant step forward in the philosophy of film, shining a light on guiding assumptions of the manner of transformation film is capable of provoking [...]” - Wyatt Moss-Wellington, review in: Projections: The Journal for Movies and Mind.
"Recasting much of the existing debate, Martin Rossouw’s [...] emphasis on film’s power for enacting ethical transformation, rather than theoretical insight or discovery, gives a much-needed shot in the arm to a topic whose development has stalled in recent years. [...] This highly original book offers a unique and provocative contribution to the scholarship. Rossouw is a persistent questioner, often demonstrating sharp philosophical instincts." - Shawn Loht, in: Philosophy in Review, Vol. 43 no. 1 (February 2023).
"This book displays a faultless command of film-philosophy from its foundational figures, Stanley Cavell and Gilles Deleuze, to important recent work. The distinction between weak, moderate and bold versions of film-philosophy is immensely helpful in finding a way through the now-vast field; and the core argument that all of these entail a transformational ethics in some form or other is, to me at least, entirely persuasive. [...] What this study offers is both a compelling analysis of a core strand of ethical film-philosophy, and a thorough challenge to some of its fundamental tenets. This is essential reading." - Colin Davis, in Film-Philosophy, Vol. 27 no. 3 (October 2023).
"Rossouw approaches the question of the ethical impact of film upon its audience in a refreshing and original manner. Using Johann Visagie’s theory of ethical transformation, Rossouw posits a complex process by means of which members of a film’s audience can come to enhance their moral perspective. This is an important work that all those interested in the relationship between film and ethics will have to take seriously." - Thomas E. Wartenberg (Mount Holyoke College), author of Thinking on Screen: Film as Philosophy and Mel Bochner: Illustrating Philosophy.
“Rossouw’s conversational register [...] conjures a friendly and approachable philosopher figure who truly wants to communicate, to share in dialogic joys, not simply to evince a discursive authority. The fun of philosophy shines through... [Transformational Ethics of Film] represents a significant step forward in the philosophy of film, shining a light on guiding assumptions of the manner of transformation film is capable of provoking [...]” - Wyatt Moss-Wellington, review in: Projections: The Journal for Movies and Mind.
"Recasting much of the existing debate, Martin Rossouw’s [...] emphasis on film’s power for enacting ethical transformation, rather than theoretical insight or discovery, gives a much-needed shot in the arm to a topic whose development has stalled in recent years. [...] This highly original book offers a unique and provocative contribution to the scholarship. Rossouw is a persistent questioner, often demonstrating sharp philosophical instincts." - Shawn Loht, in: Philosophy in Review, Vol. 43 no. 1 (February 2023).
"This book displays a faultless command of film-philosophy from its foundational figures, Stanley Cavell and Gilles Deleuze, to important recent work. The distinction between weak, moderate and bold versions of film-philosophy is immensely helpful in finding a way through the now-vast field; and the core argument that all of these entail a transformational ethics in some form or other is, to me at least, entirely persuasive. [...] What this study offers is both a compelling analysis of a core strand of ethical film-philosophy, and a thorough challenge to some of its fundamental tenets. This is essential reading." - Colin Davis, in Film-Philosophy, Vol. 27 no. 3 (October 2023).
Martin P. Rossouw, Ph.D. (2019), University of Groningen, is chair of the Department of Art History and Image Studies, University of the Free State, South Africa, where he teaches as senior lecturer in the Programme of Film and Visual Media.