Memento

Andrew Kania is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Trinity University, San Antonio, USA. His principle research is in the philosophy of music, literature, and film. He is the editor (with Theodore Gracyk) of The Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Music.

• Introduction Andrew Kania 1. Moral Monster or Responsible Person? Memento’s Leonard as a Case Study in Defective Agency Michael McKenna 2. Leonard’s System: Why Doesn’t It Work? Joseph Levine 3. The Feel of the World: Exograms, Habits, and the Confusion of Types of Memory John Sutton 4. The Value of Memory: Reflections on Memento Raymond Martin 5. Memento and Personal Identity: Do We Have it Backwards? Richard Hanley 6. Memento and the Phenomenology of Comprehending Motion Picture Narration Noël Carroll 7. Reconfiguring the Past: Memento and Neo-Noir Deborah Knight and George McKnight 8. What is Memento? Ontology and Interpretation in Mainstream Film Andrew Kania Index

‘A fascinating collection of essays, from a number of notable hands, on philosophical issues raised by one of the most mind-bending of recent films, Christopher Nolan's Memento. Anyone interested in what film might teach us about the nature of memory, self, knowledge, and narration will here find a rich source of reflections. The essays are admirably introduced by the editor, who also provides invaluable signposting to the structure and content of this most enigmatic of cinematic productions.' - Jerrold Levinson, University of Maryland, USA‘Memento is a remarkable narrative achievement and this book of philosophical essays - more conventional in structure than the film I'm glad to say - brings into sharp relief the ideas on persons, their mental and moral resources, that inform the film. Kania has chosen his contributors well; here analytic philosophy, so often portrayed as insensitive to artistic and imaginative aspirations, is very light on its feet.' - Gregory Currie, University of Nottingham, UK