What is a Horror Movie and What Does It Do Prerequisite to any discussion on current trends in horror films is a definition of what constitutes a horror movie and what it ultimately achieves.  To help construct an at least rudimentary definition[1] of a horror movie, three observations will be made concerning 1) The Emotions [...]

Horror remains one of the most peculiar yet enduring film genres.  Yet why?  Commonsense speaks against horror’s success.  How could a mature, intelligent, moral—normal adult find pleasure in the horrific and often grotesque?  Few people intentionally punctuate their lives with gross or terrorizing elements.  As one author pointed out, few of us lift our trashcan [...]

In 1966 Time Magazine published this cover for all the world to see. The boldness of the lettering set against a black background remarkably parallels the intent of the author of those three little words, Friedrich Nietzsche. I want to explain what he meant by that infamous statement and, more importantly, explain how pluralism has proven [...]

Meaning has been lost in our culture today. This loss of meaning was brought forth by the loss of truth. Freidrich Neitszche is the father of nihilism, the philosophy which declares all things as meaningless. Many people today have difficulty finding meaning in their lives, and whether they know it or not, it is because they are slowly following down a dry and lonely path that leads to nihilism. The dominant perspective on truth in the western world today is one of relativism. By declaring truth relative, one essentially declares truth as nonexistent. This is how Nietszche understood the world, and he was dedicated enough to the pursuit of his philosophy to follow it wherever it led; in the end of his life, it led to insanity. He lost the will to live, because he knew that his life could hold no meaning. This should be a frightening example of where the erosion of truth can lead. Without truth there is no meaning, and without meaning there is no purpose.

With the close of the 18th Century, we began to see a new form of philosophy begin to shape.  Scientific questions were then a form of the current metaphysical branch of philosophy, known as natural philosophy, which sought answers through empirical knowledge (epistemology).  With the development of modern science and the birth of the scientific [...]