Acknowledgments ix Introduction: Philosophy and the Popular Arts 1 Section I The Philosophy of Mass Art 7 1 The Ontology of Mass Art 9 2 Modernity and the Plasticity of Perception 29 3 The Ties that Bind: Characters, the Emotions, and Popular Fictions 40 4 Character, Social Information, and the Challenge of Psychology 64 Section II The Philosophy of Motion Pictures 83 5 Movies, the Moral Emotions, and Sympathy 85 6 The Problem with Movie Stars 106 7 Cinematic Narrative 122 8 Cinematic Narration 133 9 Psychoanalysis and the Horror Film 145 Section III Philosophy and Popular Film 159 10 Philosophical Insight, Emotion, and Popular Fiction: The Case of Sunset Boulevard 161 11 Vertigo and the Pathologies of Romantic Love 183 12 What Mr Creosote Knows about Laughter 194 13 Memento and the Phenomenology of Comprehending Motion Picture Narration 203 Section IV Philosophy and Popular TV 221 14 Tales of Dread in The Twilight Zone: A Contribution to Narratology 223 15 Sympathy for Soprano 234 16 Consuming Passion: Sex and the City 247 Section V Philosophy on Broadway 267 17 Art and Friendship 269 18 Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman, or The Justification of Literature 276 Section VI Philosophy across Popular Culture 289 19 The Fear of Fear Itself: The Philosophy of Halloween 291 20 The Grotesque Today: Preliminary Notes toward a Taxonomy 302 21 Andy Kaufman and the Philosophy of Interpretation 324 Index 348.