ABSTRACT
The most promising approach to film as philosophy is to regard films as philosophical thought experiments. Thought experiments use hypothetical scenarios to motivate philosophical conclusions, and the hypothetical scenarios depicted in films can, it is claimed, perform much the same role. A complication with this proposal is that the role of thought experiments in philosophy is itself contentious. Worries have been raised about whether thought experiments are characteristic of philosophical thinking and whether they are really capable of justifying philosophical conclusions. This presents two threats to the view that films are philosophical thought experiments. First, if thought experiments are not characteristic of philosophy, then the intellectual contributions of film may fail to be distinctively philosophical. This chapter argues that filmic thought experiments qualify as philosophical when they engage with a philosophical subject matter. Second, if philosophical thought experiments are poor at justifying philosophical conclusions, then film can only make poor contributions to philosophy. This chapter argues that although worries raised about the epistemic value of thought experiments deserve to be taken seriously, not all thought experiments have the shortcomings proposed. Furthermore, there are some respects in which films are better equipped than academic works to avoid those shortcomings.
