This page contains a list of philosophy documentaries for beginners:
Very Good Philosophy Documentaries
Is the Man Who is Tall Happy? (2013) – An animated interview with Noam Chomsky. It touches on a wide range of topics, from Chomsky’s childhood to his theories on linguistics. You can watch the full film on Youtube here
Director: Michel Gondry
Features: Noam Chomsky
Length: 1h 29m
The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology (2012) – Žižek explores the mechanisms that shape what we believe and the way we behave. A large variety of films are examined through a psychoanalytic lens, including Full Metal Jacket, Jaws and The Dark Knight.
Director: Sophie Fiennes
Features: Slavoj Žižek
Length: 2h 24m
The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema (2006) – A similar format to The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology but with different films.
Director: Sophie Fiennes
Features: Slavoj Žižek
Length: 2h 30m
Being in the World (2010) – A documentary exploring the philosophy of Martin Heidegger and its relation to sports, music, crafts and cooking.
Director: Tao Ruspoli
Features: Hubert Dreyfuss + others
Length: 1h 21m
Good Philosophy Documentaries
Examined Life (2008) – A hit-and-miss collection of interviews with contemporary philosophers. Each interviewee is given around 10 minutes of screen time to talk about whatever they choose. The full movie is not available on Youtube but each of the individual interviews are linked below:
- Cornel West
- Slavoj Žižek
- Judith Butler
- Avital Ronell (incomprehensible – not recommended)
- Martha Nussbaum
- Michael Hardt
- Peter Singer
- Cant find the one with Appiah but you’re not missing much.
Director: Astra Taylor
Features: Cornell West, Avital Ronell, Peter Singer, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Michael Hardt, Slavoj Žižek, Judith Butler
Length: 1h 30m
Zizek! (2005) – An unfocused documentary following Žižek on a speaking tour around the world. Not as good as The Pervert’s Guide to… movies above, but still worth watching if you enjoy Žižek. You can watch the full film on Youtube here
Director: Astra Taylor
Features: Slavoj Žižek
Length: 1h 11m
Derrida (2002) – Derrida isn’t the best subject for a documentary. He is constantly on guard in front of the camera an makes us acutely aware that any documentary will present a distorted picture of it’s subject. A good documentary but probably only worth watching if you are already interested in the philosophy of Derrida.
Director: Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering Koffman
Features: Jacques Derrida
Length: 1h 25m
Why Beauty Matters (2009) – Roger Scruton presents a passionate argument for the importance of beauty in art although I get the feeling he is being less than charitable to more modern art movements.
Director: Louise Lockwood
Features: Roger Scruton
Length: 59m
OK Philosophy Documentaries
Return to Source: Philosophy and the Matrix (2004) – Features a surprising number of high profile philosophers, unfortunately most of them are reduced to quick sound bites. It tries to cover too many topics and consequently spreads itself too thin. Although it did make me appreciate the Martix sequels more after watching.
Director: Josh Oreck
Features: Daniel Dennett, David Chalmers, Hubert Dreyfuss, John Searle, Cornel West, + many others
Length: 1h 1m
Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness (2000) – A mixture of light philosophy and self help blah blah. If you watch the episode Schopenhauer on Love as if it was an episode of Nathan for You it works much better. A philosophy documentary series for people who aren’t all that interested in philosophy.
Director: Various
Features: Alain de Botton
Length: 24m x 6 episodes
Human All Too Human (1999) – A documentary series on Nietzsche, Heidegger and Sartre. It focuses on biographical details rather than each philosopher’s ideas. Rather forgettable overall. Each episode is available on Youtube below:
Director: Various
Length: 50m x 3 episodes
Bad Philosophy Documentaries
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life (1997) – Tries to paint Ayn Rand as if she was one of the illustrious protagonists from her novels. The amount of hero worship is ridiculous almost to the point of comedy.
Director: Michael Paxton
Features: Ayn Rand
Length: 2h 25m
Marx Reloaded (2011) – An unfocused look at contemporary Marxism in the wake of the global financial crisis. If you don’t know anything about Marxism, this isn’t a great introduction. If you know a lot about Marxism, this doesn’t have anything new. Also, the Matrix animations feel very forced and are terribly out of place.
Director: Jason Barker
Features: John Gray, Michael Hardt, Antonio Negri, Slavoj Žižek
Length: 52m
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