World, Time, Film

Addresses the issue of how film represents reality by focusing on metaphysical realist thought.

World, Time, Film addresses the issue of how film represents reality through a focus on ‘philosophical realist’ theory, adopting an ‘externalist’ position in relation to cognition, arguing that what is environmentally external shapes what is internally cognitive. The book begins by exploring relation between subject and world in relation to the concept of Umwelt, and then by covering revisions of that concept. French naturalist and realist traditions of art and film are explored in relation to this. The book then applies ideas drawn from extended mind theory to an understanding of the relation between minded subject and world, and to issues of time and temporal experience. Each theory chapter is followed by a linked chapter applying the theory to film, making this one of the first books to apply concepts and theories drawn from philosophical realism and externalism to film in a systematic manner.