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Blade Runner

Edited by Amy Coplan

To Be Published October 1st 2012 by Routledge – 186 pages

Series: Philosophers on Film

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    Description

    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 from what it is to be human and to the nature of consciousness.

    This is the first book to explore and address these questions and more from a philosophical point of view. Beginning with a helpful introduction, specially commissioned chapters examine the following questions:

    • What is the relationship between emotion and reason and how successful is Blade Runner in depicting emotions?
    • Can we know what it is like to be a replicant?
    • What is the origin of personhood and what qualifies one as a person?
    • Does the style of Blade Runner have any philosophical significance?
    • To what extent is Blade Runner a meditation on the nature of film itself?

    Including a biography of the director and annotated further reading at the end of each chapter, Blade Runner is essential reading for students interested in philosophy and film studies.

    Contents

    Introduction Amy Coplan 1. What is it like to be a Nexus-6 replicant? Peter Goldie 2. Why Humans Dream of Emotional Machines Colin Allen 3. Humans, Persons, and Skin Jobs: Lesson from Blade Runner Michael McKenna 4. Imagining through cinema: Blade Runner as Philosophical Inquiry David Davies 5. If you could see what I have seen with your eyes: style and substance in Blade Runner Amy Coplan 6. Exploring the Space of the Image: Some Notes on a Scene from Blade Runner Stephen Mulhall 7. Replicant Love C.D.C. Reeve 8.Elegy in L.A.: Blade Runner, Empathy and Death Berys Gaut. Index　

    Author Bio

    Amy Coplan is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Fullerton.

    Name: Blade Runner (Paperback) – Routledge 
    Description: Edited by Amy Coplan. 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...
    Categories: Film Studies, Film Theory, Philosophy of Film