Towards a philosophy of the screenplay

The purpose of this project is to take the first steps towards a philosophy of the screenplay. More specifically, the project attempts to clarify our present concept of the screenplay in two regards—in terms of what the screenplay is and what kind of a thing it is. In doing so, it makes the following three arguments in each of its three parts, respectively.

(1) The screenplay is an artifact concept and, therefore, an essentially historical concept, the boundaries of which are determined by the collective practices of the creators of screenplays. Therefore, any plausible definition of the screenplay must be an intentional-historical definition of some variety.

(2) Because early Hollywood screenwriting practices intelligibly emerged out of late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century playwriting practices (which are acknowledged art practices), Hollywood screenwriting can plausibly be identified as an art practice and at least some Hollywood screenplays can be plausibly identified as artworks. Other screenwriting practices and screenplays can plausibly be identified as art in virtue of their intentional-historical connection to acknowledged, prior art.

(3) Through their collective creative and appreciative practices, practitioners (and others who ordinarily deal with screenplays, like readers) determine the facts about what kind of a thing the screenplay is. Any plausible account of the ontology of the screenplay must, therefore, be strictly constrained by those practices. Furthermore, an analysis of those practices shows that the screenplay must be the kind of thing that is creatable, multiply instantiable, finely individuable, and destructible.

The master argument is that because the screenplay is a kind of artifact its boundaries are determined collectively by screenwriters, and its ontological nature is determined collectively by both writers and readers of screenplays. Any plausible theory of the screenplay must be strictly constrained by our collective creative and appreciative practices.