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Examined Life | 
 enlarge | Director: Astra Taylor
Actors: Slavoj Zizek, Cornel West, Peter Singer, Judith Butler, Kwame Anthony Appiah
Studio: Zeitgeist Films
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy New: $17.50
You Save: $12.49 (42%)
New (20) Used (2) from $17.50
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 17278
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Discs: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Running Time: 88 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 1123
UPC: 795975112338
EAN: 0795975112338
ASIN: B002VBQEEW
Release Date: February 23, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
In Examined Life, filmmaker Astra Taylor (Zizek!) liberates philosophy from the sterile world of academia through entertaining and thought-provoking excursions with some of today's most famous and influential thinkers. Peter Singer's thoughts on the ethics of consumption are amplified against the backdrop of Fifth Avenue's posh boutiques. Slavoj Zizek questions current beliefs about the environment while sifting through a garbage dump. Michael Hardt ponders the nature of revolution while surrounded by symbols of wealth and leisure. Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor stroll through San Francisco's Mission District questioning our culture's fixation on individualism. And while driving through Manhattan, Cornel West--called "a genius" and "an oracle" by President Obama--compares philosophy to jazz and blues, reminding us how intense and invigorating a life of the mind can be. Offering privileged moments with great thinkers from fields ranging from ethics to cultural theory, Examined Life reveals philosophy's power to transform the way we see the world around us and imagine our place in it.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- 16:9 anamorphic transfer, enhanced for widescreen TVs
- Two extra philosopher walks
- Q&A's with Cornel West, Avital Ronell, Kwame Anthony Appiah and director Astra Taylor
- Theatrical trailers
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired
- Philosopher bios and selected bibliographies
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
 Philosphy on the Street March 6, 2010
Amos Lassen (Little Rock, Arkansas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"Examined Life"
Philosophy on the Street
Amos Lassen
We spend a lot of time trying to find meaning in our lives and many times it is right there in front of us, In "Examined Life", philosophers take us through different aspects of life and we see that philosophy has the power to transform the way we see the world and our place in it. The movie yanks philosophy away from academia and gives us easy access to it. Director Astra Taylor gives us some of the most powerful and influential thinkers of our time and they speak to us in ways we can understand.
Eight peripatetic philosophers take part in this film--Cornell West, Avital Ronell, Peter Singer, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Judith Butler, Michael Hardt, and Savoj Zizek. They talk about their ideas and we are still not sure that philosophy helps us explore the meaning of life.
The concept of the film is really interesting in that it makes philosophy part of everyday life. Each thinker only gets about ten minutes but that ten minutes is a summary of their work. Philosophy becomes democratized and interesting even for those who pooh pooh it. I. as a philosophy undergraduate major once, was always taught that philosophy is arrogant and that philosophers are the real thinkers but we see here that philosophy is for everyone as it starts to question al of the problems that the analytical man has rejected. Plato said that philosophers should rule society and we see that he was not quite correct in this. Our speakers here are clear and coherent and easy to follow. They are "thinkers in transit" and we see their "philosophy in motion". Thomas Hobbes wrote that leisure is the mother of philosophy but we see here from our modern thinkers that philosophy is something to be embraced and used for ourselves.
 Not philosophy but democracy... March 3, 2010
born into this (Southwest Virginia)
In which the 'examined life' is given over entirely to the democratic prejudices of the super-star professors. Only fleetingly--thank you as always Professor Cornel West--is there treatment of the individual confronting a human lifetime. Otherwise Philosophy becomes a branch of liberal-left politics. Thus the claim in the product description that philosophy is liberated from the sterile academy or whatever is rather fatuous...But for a micro-budget documentary it is well-produced and effectively rendered. Good mood and style of presentation and most of the personalities presented are very likable and give us something to think about, which is mainly some version of 'social justice', a concept that is at the center of many thinking people's consciousness. It's just that I prefer 'justice justice' I suppose. Oh well there's always Plato and Rousseau...
Philosophers, Ethicists and Other Contemporary Prophets Take to the Streets February 23, 2010
David Crumm (Canton, Michigan)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I know that "Examined Life" is fascinating to viewers from a wide range of ages, because I'm fascinated in my mid-50s by the questions filmmaker Astra Taylor raises among these top philosophers. Then, in addition, I showed portions of this film to a high school class and they were intrigued. Because our time was limited, I fast-forwarded through one sequence, which led one boy to pop up with: "Wait. We'll miss what she's saying if you do that." If you're familiar with high school classes, you'll know that's a surprising response to a documentary about philosophers.
After class, a girl in the group asked if she could borrow the DVD to see the film from start to finish. There were no grades involved in this. She was genuinely hooked by these heady questions raised by men and women from a wide range of philosophical disciplines--literally walking and talking in the streets.
That's a sign of Taylor's success with her guerrilla, street-level, quick-hit version of life's big philosophical questions. One example of the film's almost break-neck pace is that Cornell West is filmed while riding in a car cruising down a street in Manhattan as if he might jump out at the next corner and vanish. So, he seems to pile his words of wisdom quickly on top of each other.
What??? We wonder: Did Cornell West just summarize several thousand years of human civilization in less than 3 minutes? Zoom! And we're on to the next philosopher.
This is fun, mind-bending stuff. If you don't care for one philosopher's digression into George W. Bush's morality--hey, don't worry. You'll be across town on a different street--or maybe in an airport--or maybe somewhere else--with yet another philosopher in just a moment.
Great film. If you watch it with friends or a discussion circle, you'll have no shortage of stuff to talk about--and to (politely and compassionately, I hope)--debate!
Very Enjoyable and Accessible February 21, 2010
Films McMoviewatcher (new york, ny United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I thoroughly enjoyed this film. For the most part, the ideas were presented clearly and in plain English (a rarity when it comes to philosophy) and the philosophies were enlivened by the diverse personalities of the presenters.
What I enjoy about Philosophy is finding new ways to think about things and there were plenty of these to be had in this film.
Good Questions with Good Philosophers December 30, 2009
M. DeWitt
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I shall first mention that I have not seen the bonus features.
Now with that procedural matter out of the way--I would like to comment that this film is wonderful. It does not lend itself to a detailed study of the philosophers that appear in the film. Rather, small doses of the personalities and individual styles of each of the philosophers is presented in the snippets--sometimes in unexpected ways. The very intelligent Martha Nussbaum comes across as being slightly detached and cold. The often combative and difficult writing of Judith Butler is erased or at least belied by her interactions with the sister of the director.
This film is good because it gives multiple perspectives, though favouring continental thought, about what it means to lead an examined life. What does it mean to become a philosopher and most importantly what does it mean to philosophize? These thinkers deal with these difficult questions, and perhaps it is these questions that are the root and possibility of philosophy itself.
This is not a film for people looking to learn about a particular philosophy. The film is heavily edited and does not go into detailed arguments about each line of thinking.
The film is great for style. Avital Ronell, the dark lady of deconstruction, talks in the language of Derrida and Heidegger as she walks in a "hermeneutic" path of circling ideas. Cornel West gives his sporadic and enthusiastic responses in the back of a cab. Nussbaum walks along straight paths and over bridges. Michael Hardt talks about revolution while rowing a boat( an upper class pastime) while surrounded with the tools of the proletariat(bull dozers). Zizek is surrounded by garbage (a classic move) moving with his tic-ish hand gestures and nose rubs. Singer walks on Fifth Avenue commenting on consumer society.
Overall, a great film for someone interested in philosophy and learning about the philosophers' styles. (Though Heidegger cautioned us against biographies of the thinkers, remember all we need to know is that Aristotle was born. He thought. He died...).
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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