David Ferragut (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

ABSTRACT Henri Bergson (1907) and Hugo Münsterberg (1916) were the first two philosophers who took an interest in cinema, yet they wrote about it in very different contexts. Bergson, dedicating a single chapter during the Early Cinema era, explored it before the classical style had crystallized. In contrast, Münsterberg, who wrote an entire book on it, did so when Classical Cinema had already taken shape. Furthermore, they ascribed different dimensions to cinema: Bergson viewed it through a scientific lens, dissecting movement into fixed points, while Münsterberg celebrated it as a new artistic form capable of replicating mental processes. This session will unfold along three axes: first, we will describe the fundamental differences between Early and Classical Cinema in order to discern the images analyzed by Bergson and Münsterberg; second, we will delve into their primary arguments to delineate their cinematic conceptions within their philosophical frameworks. Finally, drawing on interpretations by both Deleuze and Carroll, we will explore enduring philosophical questions about cinema that still persist into the present day.

David Ferragut holds a BA degree in Humanities with a mention in Philosophy (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) and is a PhD candidate in Art History (UAB) with a thesis on slow cinema, rendered from Film Theory and the Philosophy of Gilles Deleuze. He has conducted seminars on electronic and digital media (video games, photography, noise and drone music), History of Cinema, and Film Theory (UAB and Universitat de Girona). He has coordinated two books: Ensayos y errores. Arte, ciencia y filosofía en los videojuegos (AnaitGames, 2019), with Alfonso-García Lapeña, and Lo que dura una película. Una antología sobre slow cinema (Laertes, 2023), with Iona Sharp-Casas.

The session is hybrid and will be held on February 14, 2024, at 15:00 (Lisbon time) Colégio Almada Negreiros Room CAN SE1 and online.

Note that to receive information about joining the meeting online, it is mandatory to register in advance here.