Mark T. Conard's Books

The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers

By: Mark T. Conard

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The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers

By: Mark T. Conard

In 2008 No Country for Old Men won the Academy Award for Best Picture, adding to the reputation of filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, who were already known for pushing the boundaries of genre. They had already made films that redefined the gangster movie, the screwball comedy, the fable, and the film noir, among others. No Country is just one of many Coen brothers films to center on the struggles of complex characters to understand themselves and their places in the strange worlds they inhabit. To borrow a phrase from Barton Fink, all Coen films explore "the life of the mind" and show that the human condition can often be simultaneously comic and tragic, profound and absurd. In The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers, editor Mark T. Conard and other noted scholars explore the challenging moral and philosophical terrain of the Coen repertoire. Several authors connect the Coens' most widely known plots and characters to the shadowy, violent, and morally ambiguous world of classic film noir and its modern counterpart, neo-noir. As these essays reveal, Coen films often share noir's essential philosophical assumptions: power corrupts, evil is real, and human control of fate is an illusion. In Fargo, not even Minnesota's blankets of snow can hide Jerry Lundegaard's crimes or brighten his long, dark night of the soul. Coen films that stylistically depart from film noir still bear the influence of the genre's prevailing philosophical systems. The tale of love, marriage, betrayal, and divorce in Intolerable Cruelty transcends the plight of the characters to illuminate competing theories of justice. Even in lighter fare, such as Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski, the comedy emerges from characters' journeys to the brink of an amoral abyss. However, the Coens often knowingly and gleefully subvert conventions and occasionally offer symbolic rebirths and other hopeful outcomes. At the end of The Big Lebowski, the Dude abides, his laziness has become a virtue, and the human comedy is perpetuating itself with the promised arrival of a newborn Lebowski. The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers sheds new light on these cinematic visionaries and their films' stirring philosophical insights. From Blood Simple to No Country for Old Men, the Coens' films feature characters who hunger for meaning in shared human experience—they are looking for answers. A select few of their protagonists find affirmation and redemption, but for many others, the quest for answers leads, at best, only to more questions.

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Page Count

305

Publisher

University Press of Kentucky

Published Date

ISBN 10

081317323X

ISBN 13

9780813173238

Woody Allen and Philosophy

[You Mean My Whole Fallacy Is Wrong?]

By: Mark T. Conard,Aeon J. Skoble

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Woody Allen and Philosophy

[You Mean My Whole Fallacy Is Wrong?]

By: Mark T. Conard,Aeon J. Skoble

Fifteen philosophers representuing different schools of thought answer the question what is Woody Allen trying to say in his films? And why should anyone care? Focusing on different works and varied aspects of Allen's multifaceted output, these essays explore the philosophical undertones of Anne Hall, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Manhattan, A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy and reminds us that just because the universe is meaningless and life is pointless is no reason to commit suicide.

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Page Count

284

Publisher

Open Court

Published Date

ISBN 10

0812697464

ISBN 13

9780812697469

The Simpsons and Philosophy

The D'Oh! Of Homer

By: William Irwin,Mark T. Conard,Aeon J. Skoble

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The Simpsons and Philosophy

The D'Oh! Of Homer

By: William Irwin,Mark T. Conard,Aeon J. Skoble

The Simpsons is one of the most literary and intelligent comedies on television today - fertile ground for questions such as: Does Nietzsche justify Bart's bad behavior? Is hypocrisy always unethical? What is Lisa's conception of the Good? From the editor of and contributors to the widely-praised Seinfeld and Philosophy, The Simpsons and Philosophy is an insightful and humorous look at the philosophical tenets of America's favorite animated family that will delight Simpsons fans and philosophy aficionados alike. Twenty-one philosophers and academics discuss and debate the absurd, hyper-ironic, strangely familiar world that is Springfield, the town without a state. n exploring the thought of key philosophers including Aristotle, Marx, Camus, Sartre, Heidegger, and Kant through episode plots and the characters' antics, the contributors tackle issues like irony and the meaning of life, American anti-intellectualism, and existential rebellion. The volume also includes an episode guide and a chronology of philosophers which lists the names and dates of the major thinkers in the history of philosophy, accompanied by a representative quote from each. Contributors: David L.G. Arnold, Daniel Barwick, Eric Bronson, Paul A. Cantor, Mark T. Conard, Gerald J. Erion, Raja Halwani, Jason Holt, William Irwin, Kelley Dean Jolley, Deborah Knight, James Lawler, J.R. Lombardo, Carl Matheson, Jennifer L. McMahon, Aeon J. Skoble, Dale E. and James J. Snow, David Vessey, James J. Wallace, and Joseph A. Zeccardi ''Each essay provides a hilarious but incisive springboard to some aspect of philosophy.

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Page Count

506

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ReadHowYouWant.com

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ISBN 10

1459601157

ISBN 13

9781459601154

Book's by Mark T. Conard

The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers

The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers

Woody Allen and Philosophy

Woody Allen and Philosophy

The Simpsons and Philosophy

The Simpsons and Philosophy

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