1. 1. It is acknowledged that there is no single text that defines the discipline; however, the range of books here indicates that the assertions included in this article are not controversial.
2. 2. Although in the biological sciences, “definitions of life are highly controversial” (Ruiz-Mirazo et al. 323), it is not clear that the same will apply to the definition presented here.
3. 3. Commentators do, however, make definitive claims that “E.T. is dying” in that scene (e.g., Trottier 8).
4. 4. For a discussion of the sequence in terms of Jungian archetypes, see Kuberski; for a Foucauldian analysis of another Kubrick film, see Gehrke.
5. 5. As an additional recourse to theory, their capacity for destruction is an always/already aspect of themselves as characters/subjects. For a consideration of the always/already nature of human subjects, see Althusser 263.