Film as Philosophical Medium: Language, Time Perception and Cinematic Philosophical Practice in Arrival

Abstract

This article takes Arrival (Denis Villeneuve, 2016) as a case study to explore how cinema, through its distinctive medium language,
engages with and extends philosophical thinking. It focuses on how the circular writing system of the alien civilization heptapods in the film,
which embodies a non-linear conception of time, disrupts human cognition, thereby providing a vivid and concrete instantiation of the classic
philosophical proposition known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. The article contends that films not only contextualize philosophical ideas but
also transcend traditional textual interpretation through cinematic philosophical practices such as non-linear editing, converting abstract philosophy into tangible experiential dimensions. Drawing on Wartenbergs screen philosophy and Sinnerbrinks film-philosophy, it emphasizes
the reciprocal relationship between aesthetic experience and philosophical reflection: cinema requires conceptualization through philosophy,
while philosophy engages with the non-verbal cognitive experiments that film provides.