IB Core Theme Stimulus ideas - 'Spectre' (2015)

After recently watching the 24th James Bond film 'Spectre' (2015) for the first time since seeing it in the cinema last year, I was struck by a scene which focused, albeit briefly, on the theme of identity. As I teach the IB Philosophy Core Theme ('Being Human') course, I am constantly on the lookout for brief film scenes and literature extracts that allow my students to engage with the Core Theme topics: human nature, personhood, mind and body, the self and the other, freedom and identity.

The interrogation scene from Spectre makes for a good Core Theme-style stimulus. Blofeld has Bond primed and ready for torture whilst Madeleine Swann watches on. Blofeld turns to Madeleine and says:

As you know all too well, dear Madeleine, a man lives inside his head. That's where the seat of his soul is.

Now, James and I were both present recently when a man was

deprived of his eyes. And the most astonishing thing happened.

Didn't you notice?

He wasn't there anymore.

He'd gone even though he was still alive. So in this brief moment

between life and death, there was nobody inside his skull.

Most odd.

I have had some excellent conversations with my IB students about the philosophical themes from this scene. These discussions are particularly useful in the run-up to their examinations.