Enacting Reflection Through Sci-fi Black Mirror & Philosophy Sergio Urueña Editor’s Note: In the following, Sergio Urueña outlines how some Black Mirror stories—the ones that seem to have a certain dose of reality wrapped in halos of fantasy—not only tell something about our social realities but could also shape reality itself. Science Fiction & Philosophy How…
PHILOSOPHY IN FILM Leander P. Marquez Editor’s note: Black Mirror and Philosophy: Dark Reflections treats Black Mirror as a work of philosophy—as if it each episode is trying to raise a philosophical question or make a philosophical point. In the following piece, Leander Marquez (who helped the editor write the introduction to Black Mirror…
Aristotelian Tragedy in Black Mirror Matt Hummel Black Mirror’s delightfully macabre blend of sci-fi horror stories is fascinating for myriad reasons, one of which has to be the fact it’s comprised of just that: stories. Unlike more traditional series, each Black Mirror episode must introduce characters, construct a setting and plot, and create and eventually…
Trump, Black Mirror, and the 2020 Election We might be about to live through the worst Black Mirror episode yet. David Kyle Johnson In the wake of editing Wiley-Blackwell’s new book Black Mirror and Philosophy: Dark Reflections, this semester I taught a course at King’s College on the famous Netflix series Black Mirror. The course…
Choose Your Own Philosophical Adventure with Bandersnatch The Black Mirror episode “Bandersnatch” was called a “choose your own adventure” story. Given its multiple timelines and multiple endings, it raised multiple philosophical questions. For the new book Black Mirror and Philosophy: Dark Reflections, contributor Chris Lay and editor David Kyle Johnson put together a “choose your…
When Saving the World Goes Bad Timelines and Tribulations in Virtue’s Last Reward Brandon Packard Virtue’s Last Reward, the second game in the Zero Escape series, is unique in quite a few ways. As in many story-driven games, the choices you make can dramatically affect the game. However, there are more possible story paths…
“Killing Justice” in The Expanse Jeffery L. Nicholas Leviathan Wakes, the first title in the award winning series The Expanse by James S. A. Corey, is a title that intrigues as it calls to mind Thomas Hobbes’s Leviathan. Jim Holden and Joe Miller, the primary protagonists, force us to ask, when is it okay to…
