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Noël Carroll (born 1947) is an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
considered to be one of the leading figures in
contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from approximately 1945 to the present. Contemporary history is either a subset of the late modern period, or it is o ...
philosophy of art Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed th ...
. Although Carroll is best known for his work in the
philosophy of film The philosophy of film is a branch of aesthetics within the discipline of philosophy that seeks to understand the most basic questions about film. Philosophy of film has significant overlap with film theory, a branch of film studies. History T ...
(he is a proponent of
cognitive film theory Aesthetic cognitivism is a methodology in the philosophy of art, particularly audience responses to art, that relies on research in cognitive psychology. Although the term is used more in humanistic disciplines than scientific ones, the methodolog ...
), he has also published
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...
, works on philosophy of art generally, theory of
media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
, and also philosophy of history. As of 2012, he is a
distinguished professor Distinguished Professor is an academic title given to some top tenured professors in a university, school, or department. Some distinguished professors may have endowed chairs. In the United States Often specific to one institution, titles such ...
of philosophy at the CUNY
Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the ...
.


Education

*B.A., Philosophy, Hofstra University, 1969 *M.A., Philosophy,
University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
, 1970 *M.A., Cinema Studies,
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...
, 1974 *M.A., Philosophy,
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...
, Chicago Circle, 1976 *Ph.D., Cinema Studies, New York University, 1976 (thesis title: "An In-Depth Analysis of Buster Keaton's ''The General''") *Ph.D., Philosophy, University of Illinois, Chicago Circle, 1983


Career

Carroll holds
PhDs A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in both
cinema studies Film theory is a set of scholarly approaches within the academic discipline of film or cinema studies that began in the 1920s by questioning the formal essential attributes of motion pictures; and that now provides conceptual frameworks for und ...
and
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
. From 1972–1988, he worked as a journalist covering film, theater, performance, and fine art for publications such as the ''Chicago Reader'', ''Artforum'', ''In These Times'', ''Dance Magazine'', ''
SoHo Weekly News The ''SoHo Weekly News'' (also called the ''SoHo News'') was a weekly alternative newspaper published in New York City from 1973 to 1982. The paper was founded in 1973 by Michael Goldstein (1938–2018). History The first issue was published on ...
'' and ''The Village Voice''. Many of these early articles have been collected in his 2011 book ''Living in an Artworld''. He has also written five documentaries. Perhaps his most popular and influential book is ''The Philosophy of Horror, or, Paradoxes of the Heart'' (1990), an examination of the
aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
of
horror fiction Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian ...
(in novels, stories, radio and film). As noted in the book's introduction, Carroll wrote ''Paradoxes of the Heart'' in part to convince his parents that his lifelong fascination with horror fiction was not a waste of time. Another important book by Carroll is ''Mystifying Movies'' (1988), a critique of the ideas of psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan, Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser and the
semiotics Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes ( semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something ...
of
Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popula ...
, which has been credited with inspiring a shift away from what Carroll describes as the "psycho-semiotic Marxism" that had dominated
film studies Film studies is an academic discipline that deals with various theoretical, historical, and critical approaches to cinema as an art form and a medium. It is sometimes subsumed within media studies and is often compared to television studies. ...
and film theory in American universities since the 1970s. Carroll was the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2002 for his research in philosophy of dance. He was named sixth-most influential philosopher of art since 1945 by the
Philosophical Gourmet Report The Philosophical Gourmet Report (also known as the Leiter Report or PGR), founded by philosophy and law professor Brian Leiter and now edited by philosophy professors Berit Brogaard and Christopher Pynes, is a ranking of graduate programs in phi ...
.


Positions

*Monroe C. Beardsley Professor of Philosophy at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...
*Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities at
Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...
*Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center *Former president of the
American Society for Aesthetics American Society for Aesthetics (ASA) is a philosophical organization founded in 1942 to promote the study of aesthetics. The ASA sponsors national and regional conferences, and publishes the ''Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism'', the '' ...


Works

Carroll is the author of more than one hundred articles and other works:


Books


Monographs

*''Philosophical Problems of Classical Film Theory'', Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1988. *''Mystifying Movies: Fads and Fallacies in Contemporary Film Theory'', New York, Columbia University Press, 1988. *''The Philosophy of Horror, or Paradoxes of the Heart'', New York, Routledge, 1990. *''Theorizing The Moving Image'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1996. *''A Philosophy of Mass Art'', New York, Oxford University Press, 1998. *''Interpreting The Moving Image'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998. *''Philosophy of Art: A Contemporary Introduction'', New York, Routledge, 1999. *''Beyond Aesthetics: Philosophical Essays'', Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001. *''Engaging The Moving Image'', New Haven, Yale University Press, 2003. *''Comedy Incarnate: Buster Keaton, Physical Humor and Bodily Coping'', Malden, Blackwell Publishing, 2007. *''The Philosophy of Motion Pictures'', Malden, Blackwell Publishing, 2008. *''On Criticism'', London, Routledge, 2009. *''Art in Three Dimensions'', Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010. *''Narrative, Emotion, and Insight'', with John Gibson, Penn State University Press, 2011. *''Living in an Artworld: Reviews and Essays on Dance, Performance, Theater, and the Fine Arts in the 1970s and 1980s'', Louisville, KY: Chicago Spectrum Press, 2012. *''Humour: A Very Short Introduction'', Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2014. *''Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Literature'', with John Gibson, Routledge, 2016. *''Arthur Danto’s Philosophy of Art: Essays'', Boston, Brill, 2021. *''Classics in the Philosophy of Art'', Oxford, Oxford University Press, in preparation.


Edited volumes

*''Post-Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies'' (edited with David Bordwell), Madison,
University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic community; works of fiction, memoir and p ...
, 1996. *''Theories of Art Today'', Madison,
University of Wisconsin Press The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a non-profit university press publishing peer-reviewed books and journals. It publishes work by scholars from the global academic community; works of fiction, memoir and p ...
, 2000. *''Philosophy of Film and Motion Pictures'' (edited with Jinhee Choi), Malden, Blackwell Publishing, 2006. *''Philosophy in the Twilight Zone'' (edited with Lester Hunt), Oxford, Blackwell, 2009. *''The Poetics, Aesthetics and Philosophy of Narrative'' (edited with an introduction by Noël Carroll), Oxford, Blackwell, 2009.


Selected articles

*''Hume's Standard of Taste'', The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Winter, 1984), pp.181-194


See also

* American philosophy *
List of American philosophers This is a list of American philosophers; of philosophers who are either from, or spent many productive years of their lives in the United States. {, border="0" style="margin:auto;" class="toccolours" , - ! {{MediaWiki:Toc , - , style="text-al ...


References


Sources

* Mario Slugan, ''Noël Carroll and Film: A Philosophy of Art and Popular Culture''. Bloomsbury, 2019.


External links


Phil Papers

Carroll's archive on the CUNY Philosophy Commons
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Noel 1947 births 20th-century American educators 20th-century American essayists 20th-century American historians 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American philosophers 20th-century educational theorists 21st-century American educators 21st-century American essayists 21st-century American historians 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American philosophers 21st-century educational theorists American art critics American cultural critics American dance critics American educational theorists American ethicists American film critics American film historians American journalists American literary theorists American male essayists American male non-fiction writers American mass media scholars American music theorists American philosophy academics American theater critics Analytic philosophers Communication theorists Critics of postmodernism Graduate Center, CUNY faculty Film theorists Humor researchers Living people Mass media theorists Media critics Metaphor theorists Moral philosophers Phenomenologists Philosophers of art Philosophers of culture Philosophers of education Philosophers of ethics and morality Philosophers of history Philosophers of literature Philosophers of social science Philosophy teachers Philosophy writers Social critics Social philosophers Trope theorists Theorists on Western civilization