Life and Time in Doctor Strange Immortality in the Dark Dimension Joachim Lipski The 2016 movie Doctor Strange tells us of Stephen Strange’s clash with his fellow sorcerer Kaecilius. According to Kaecilius’ dogma, time is life’s mortal enemy. This belief is what drives him into the servitude of Dormammu, the ruler (or quasi-deity) of…
One Tribe Black Panther’s Altruism By Edwardo Pérez “A man who does not prepare his children for his own death is not a good father,” says T’Chaka, the father of T’Challa, the prince of Wakanda who becomes the next Black Panther king in the film Black Panther. It’s an emotional moment spoken between father and…
What Even Matters Anymore? Saturday Night Live and Our Faustian Bargains By Edwardo Pérez The Last Jedi gave us a nihilistic view to ruminate on as we finished out 2017, not just of Star Wars, but of the state of our (dis)union – it was the perfect ending to a year that saw new levels…
The Last Jedi Nihilism, Übermenschen, and a Rey of Hope by Edwardo Pérez The Force Awakens ended beautifully, with Rey and Luke Skywalker staring at each other, standing atop an island mountain, with a lightsaber between them – held out by Rey in a gesture of respect and hope. It’s such a significant moment in…
Structuring thought and imagination brick by brick, Lego is more than child’s play By Sondra Bacharach You might think Lego is just a kids’ toy – one you played with as a child and now step on as you walk through the house as a parent. These days, however, the bricks are showing up in all…
In Space, Can Anyone Hear Your Philosophy? A Look at Alien and Philosophy with Editor/Contributor Jeffrey Ewing By M.B. Sutherland One measure of a good story is how much time you spend thinking about it after it ends. Does it make you wonder what the characters were thinking? What motivated them? Does it make…
We can’t think of a more appropriate day than the unluckiest day of the year to kick off our spooktacular Halloween giveaway! If you’re feeling brave, help us celebrate the spooky season by entering to win six spine-tingling classics from Wiley Blackwell’s Humanities collection, including: Supernatural and Philosophy Monsters and Mad Scientists: A Cultural History…
The Sound of Psychos Clowns and Chaos in American Horror Story Andrea Zanin “The clown is a creature of chaos. His appearance is an affront to our sense of dignity, his actions a mockery of our sense of order.” – Tom Robbins In American Horror Story: Hotel, John Wayne Gacy shows his face in…
Fullmetal Alchemist and Personal Identity By Darian Shump “I kill, therefore I am.” – Barry the Chopper (FMA: Brotherhood, Episode 8: The Fifth Laboratory) In Episode 7 (“Hidden Truths”) of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, the Elric brothers infiltrate an abandoned government complex they suspect was used to conduct experiments on condemned prisoners in an…
Wonder Woman, Guns, and The Problem of Evil By Edwardo Pérez In 2017’s Wonder Woman, we get Princess Diana’s origin story – part Batman (people she loves are killed and she wants payback), part Superman (she’s a gift to humanity sent to protect us), and part, well, Wonder Woman. She’s not only able to pick…
The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series 