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From the Academy Award-winning Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Academy Award-nominated Adaptation (2002) to the cult classic Being John Malkovich (1999), screenwriter Charlie Kaufman is widely admired for his innovative, philosophically resonant films. Although he also began directing with Synecdoche, New York in 2008, most fans and critics refer to "Kaufman films" the way they would otherwise discuss works by directors such as Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese, or the Coen brothers. In this respect, not only has Kaufman transformed our sense of what can take place in a film, he has also made a significant impact on our understanding of the role of the screenwriter.

The Philosophy of Charlie Kaufman, edited by David LaRocca, is the first collection of essays devoted to a rigorous philosophical exploration of Kaufman's work by a team of capable and critical scholars from a wide range of disciplines. From political theorists to philosophers, classicists to theologians, professors of literature to practicing filmmakers, the contributing authors delve into the heart of Kaufman's innovative screenplays and films, offering not only original philosophical analyses but also extended reflections on the nature of film and film criticism. The paperback edition appears with a new preface by the editor.

The Philosophy of Charlie Kaufman

• Cover


• Half title


• Title


• Copyright


• Contents


• Acknowledgments


• Introduction


• Part 1. On Being and Not Being One’s Self


• Charlie Kaufman, Screenwriter


• On Being John Malkovich and Not Being Yourself


• The Divided Self: Kaufman, Kafka, Wittgenstein, and Human Nature


• Unauthorized Autobiography: Truth and Fact in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind


• Part 2. Being, or Trying to Be, with Others


• Me and You: Identity, Love, and Friendship in the Films of Charlie Kaufman


• I Don’t Know, Just Wait: Remembering Remarriage in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind


• Charlie Kaufman, Philosophy, and the Small Screen


• The Instructive Impossibility of Being John Malkovich


• Part 3. Being in the World, Partially


• Living a Part: Synecdoche, New York, Metaphor, and the Problem of Skepticism


• “There’s No More Watching”: Artifice and Meaning in Synecdoche, New York and Adaptation


• Human Nature and Freedom in Adaptation


• Synecdoche, in Part


• Nietzschean Themes in the Films of Charlie Kaufman


• Inconclusive Unscientific Postscript: Late Remarks on Kierkegaard and Kaufman


• Filmography


• List of Contributors


• Index