Examined Life

{{About|the film by Astra Taylor|other uses|The Examined Life (disambiguation){{!}}The Examined Life}}

{{Infobox film

| name = Examined Life

| image = Examined Life documentary poster.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Astra Taylor

| producer = Ron Mann
Silva Basmajian

| starring = Cornel West
Slavoj Žižek
Judith Butler
Kwame Anthony Appiah
Michael Hardt
Martha Nussbaum
Avital Ronell
Peter Singer
Sunaura Taylor

| cinematography = John M. Tran

| editing = Robert Kennedy

| distributor = Zeitgeist Films

| released = {{Film date|2008|09|05|Toronto International Film Festival|2009|02|25|United States}}

| runtime = 88 minutes

| country = Canada

| language = English

}}

Examined Life is a 2008 Canadian documentary film directed by Astra Taylor about philosophers. The film has eight influential modern philosophers walking around New York and other metropolises, discussing the practical application of their ideas in modern culture.

Featured philosophers

The philosophers are Cornel West, Avital Ronell, Peter Singer, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Michael Hardt, Slavoj Žižek and Judith Butler, who is accompanied by Taylor's sister, the disability activist Sunny (Sunaura Taylor).

Production and release

The film appeared in the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, the 2009 Melbourne International Film Festival and the 2009 Kingston Canadian Film Festival. It was co-produced by Sphinx Productions and the National Film Board of Canada, in association with the Ontario Media Development Corporation, TVOntario and Knowledge Network.

Reception

Reception has been generally favorable (Rotten Tomatoes gives it 77%),{{Cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/examined_life/|title = Examined Life (2008)|website=Rotten Tomatoes}} However, Martha Nussbaum subsequently complained in The Point magazine, that although Examined Life displays "a keen visual imagination and a vivid sense of atmosphere and place" it nonetheless "presents a portrait of philosophy that is... a betrayal of the tradition of philosophizing that began, in Europe, with the life of Socrates".{{Cite web|url=http://thepointmag.com/2010/criticism/inheriting-socrates|title=Inheriting Socrates|work=The Point |date=3 January 2010}}

See also

References

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