Abstract

Over the past decade, an intense dialogue between film theory and cognitive neuroscience took place, aiming to explore the experience of the film spectator in its multiple and related aspects. In this context, Vittorio Gallese and Michele Guerra's Lo schermo empatico represents a relevant contribution. The first article (Borsari) reconstructs the inner structure of the book and discusses the aesthetic aspects of this approach. The second contribution (Eugeni) criticizes the derivation of third-person systems of representation from first-person ones and argues against the thesis of a radical naturalization of the film spectator. The third text (Lecaldano) focuses on the main steps of the theoretical argument of the book and stresses the moral relevance of the film connected to the notion of «sympathy».