Film-Philosophy 19 (2015): Book Reviews www.film-philosophy.com 108

Books about ‘the philosophy of ’ something or other have recently become trendy in contemporary publishing; not only books about films, but also about a wide range of pop culture products, including The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Trek, Superman, and so on. Indeed, I personally contributed an essay to The Philosophy of Inception: Ideas to Die For (2012), for which editor Thorsten Botz-Bornstein explained to contributors that this kind of book targets a crossover audience of academics and a wider general readership. However, The Philosophy of Ang Lee is a first. For, editors Robert Arp, Adam Barkman and James McRae write in their introduction that ‘the purpose of this book is to explore the philosophy of Ang Lee’s films ’ and that ‘the chapters draw from both Eastern and Western philosophies to examine the multicultural themes present in Lee’s works… so that readers will gain an insight into Lee’s films and the rich philosophical heritage in which they are grounded ’ (1). The ‘philosophy of’ books generally offer an interpretation of their chosen texts through