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A Companion to Wittgenstein on Education pp 687–699Cite as

‘Not to Explain, but to Accept’: Wittgenstein and the Pedagogic Potential of Film

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Abstract

The current use of film in education is limited to either its illustrative function in the service of other ideas, or as the object of empirical and theoretical study. Wittgenstein sees both illustration and explanation as extensions of the Cartesian legacy of psychologism and thereby disengaged from the actual experience of the world. Film, Wittgenstein’s followers argue, provides a unique opportunity to reconnect with that immediate experience: firstly, by exposing the neuroses of psychologism; and secondly, by inviting the viewer to relinquish the tendency to explain film’s hidden meanings prior to accepting what it has to say on its own terms. Finally, where film is currently being taken very seriously by some philosophers as a mode of philosophising in itself, or a medium that philosophises in front of our eyes, I will argue that the same attention has not yet been given to the ways in which film can act as an educator (how it can teach).

Not to explain, but to accept the psychological phenomenon—that is what is difficult. (RPP §509)

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Following convention, titles for Wittgenstein’s works are abbreviated (PI = Philosophical Investigations, RPP = Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology), with section (§) or page number (p.), with full citation and initials (e.g., RFM) in the References.

  2. 2.

    Oxford film philosopher Andrew Klevan describes Mulvey’s essay as ‘perhaps the most studied and cited in the history of film scholarship’ (2014, p. 147); Rodowick (2014) calls it ‘the most influential and intensely debated essay in contemporary film theory’ (p. 253).

  3. 3.

    Allen and Turvey have described Wittgenstein’s rejection of theory as the signature feature of his later work.

  4. 4.

    This is not to denigrate theory entirely. Rodowick (2014) makes the observation that theory should not be confused with law, because it simply offers a provisional account of the way things are, making it a description in the sense that Wittgensstein and Cavell both endorse.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Winchester, Winchester, UK

    Alexis Gibbs

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  1. Alexis Gibbs
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Correspondence to Alexis Gibbs .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Waikato, Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand

    Michael A. Peters

  2. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Jeff Stickney

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Gibbs, A. (2017). ‘Not to Explain, but to Accept’: Wittgenstein and the Pedagogic Potential of Film. In: Peters, M., Stickney, J. (eds) A Companion to Wittgenstein on Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3136-6_45

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3136-6_45

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