PHIL 101

Self, World, & God

Division of Distance Education

Dr. Jeff Johnson

Movie Paper Portfolio

The movies are intended to be a fun part of this course, but also an important pedagogic and reflective tool. The portfolio will consist of five short (three to four hundred words) papers. Each one should demonstrate familiarity with the movie (but, please, not just a plot summary!). You assignment for each paper is of the same general form. I chose these movies because I believed that they were “relevant” to our course – to the reading and lectures. I want you in each of the papers to show what the relevance is to specific issues and controversies we have discussed. I realize that you may disagree with me about how relevant a film is. That’s just fine! But, you still should be able to hypothesize why I thought it was relevant, and then you can make your case as to why it is not. I expect the papers to be taken seriously, and to be “well-written,” but at the same time, you are free to be much less formal in your discussion, and have a little bit of fun with writing them.

· Each paper should be between 250 to 500 words (pretty short!)

· You will obviously need to have done the reading, and studied the video-lectures that are appropriate, before writing the paper (though viewing the movies can probably be done whenever time permits).

· The papers should be turned in together (electronically) as a “portfolio.”

The five films should ordinarily come from the following list.

· The Matrix [skepticism]

· Regarding Henry [mind-body problem]

· Awakenings [scientific evidence, or mind-body problem]

· A Brief History of Time [new teleological argument]

· Inherit the Wind [evolution and religion]

· A Midnight Clear [cooperation]

· Schindler's List [problem of evil]

· The Sixth Sense [mind-body problem]

· Nell [language]

· A.I. [artificial intelligence]

· Minority Report [artificial intelligence, or skepticism]

If you should have any trouble locating these films, or if you have a proposed alternative, write me an e-mail, and we’ll almost certainly be able to work something out.