Bojack Horseman and the Danger of the Partially Examined Life Tessa Brunnenmeyer and Kristopher G. Phillips Bojack Horseman is a Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Netflix cartoon project that is in many ways deeply confusing. The show follows the titular character, a washed-up former sit-com actor who happens to be a cartoon horse. Bojack Horseman offers…
Our sense of self may just be malleable enough to where we could come to identify (at least temporarily) with the characteristics of online profiles; the more others respond to us as the characters we’ve created, the more we might come to internalize a sense of self that resembles the character. While this does not mean that we’ll likely ever mistake ourselves consciously for the character, we might temporarily forget (when talking to others) that the “us” others see is anyone other than “us in RL.”
Personhood in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood By Darian Shump Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood follows the adventures of Edward Elric, a State Alchemist employed by the military of Amestris, and Alphonse, his younger brother. After an aborted attempt to resurrect their mother through an illegal form of alchemy, the pair finds themselves on the brink of death.…
Plato and the Groundhog Michael Ventimiglia People are always surprised when I mention my favorite holiday. There’s no party in Times Square. No fireworks or barbeques. It doesn’t come with presents. It’s the sort of day you forget about until someone reminds you, and then you forget about it again. But, for me, it’s my…
Red Dwarf and the Gift of Life by Zoran Kojcic Red Dwarf is a British sci-fi sitcom that follows the adventures of the last human being in the universe, David Lister. Because he was being held in suspended animation as a punishment, Lister survived a massive accident on a mining space ship, Red Dwarf. After…
Confucius, Nietzsche, and Wolf Totem: The Culture of the Wolf versus the Civilization of Sheep George A. Dunn We have learned differently. We have become more modest in every way. We no longer derive man from “the spirit” or “the deity,” we have placed him back among the animals. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche, The Antichrist…
Black Mirror, “Be Right Back,” and Philosophy Matteo Grasso Black Mirror is without a doubt one of the most philosophical TV series of the last decade. Like a modern day Twilight Zone, every episode has a different cast and a different setting. “Be Right Back” tells the story of a woman’s grief for the…
Inside Out and Philosophy What Does it Mean to be Okay? By Roberto Sirvent and Duncan Reyburn Pixar’s Inside Out (2015) hinges on a tough adjustment faced by eleven-year-old Riley when her parents decide to move the family from Minnesota to San Francisco. This is a very simple event, a change from one place…
High-Intensity, Functional Fitness (and Formation?) Crossfit and Philosophy By Zachary Mabee Those who have (philosophically inclined) interest in the world of popular culture probably ought to have something to say about the fitness world. After all, personal and group fitness command a great deal of time and money in many people’s lives. (Think, e.g., of how…
Mike Rowe and Ayn Rand Somebody’s Gotta Do It By Carrie-Ann Biondi Open any newspaper. Turn on any news channel. Politicians and many of their constituents clamor for government to “do something” about the latest so-called emergency. Whether it’s about the economy, education, or healthcare, they urge that “somebody’s gotta do it,” and by that…
The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series 