The essay below originally appears as Chapter 10 of The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy, edited by Luke Cuddy. Solving the Puzzle of Cheating: Honor and Integrity in Hyrule Charles Joshua Horn One of the earliest examples of a “cheat” code in the Zelda series occurs in the first video game released in 1987 for the…
Grief in Naruto: Philosophy, Media Literacy, and the Hero’s Journey Francisco Tupy Grief as a Narrative Core In Naruto, grief is not just an emotion — it is the axis of the entire narrative. From the first episode, absence defines the protagonist: an orphan whose parents died to save the village, Naruto carries emptiness as his inheritance.…
The Cure and Philosophy: Love as a Parade of Identities Myma Benzarti The unbridgeable gap between the alter and the ego in the Swedish masterpiece Persona (Ingmar Bergman, 1966) The Cure’s album Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me, released in 1987, is one of those rare, fully realized works that serve as a journey into…
Minecraft and the Self in Blocks Communication Philosophy in a Post-Text World Francisco Tupy We live in an age where language fractures into commands, interfaces, and data streams. The written word—the foundation of modern rationality—no longer captures the depth of experience. It is in this vacuum of meaning, where discourse yields to construction, that Minecraft…
Call for Abstracts The Bear and Philosophy Edited by Mark D. White The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series Please circulate and post widely. Apologies for cross-posting. To propose ideas for future volumes in the Blackwell series please contact the Series Editor, William Irwin, at williamirwin@kings.edu Both fans and critics praise The Bear for its…
Unlock the Secrets of Hyrule with the Power of Philosophy A groundbreaking and critically acclaimed masterpiece, The Legend of Zelda was released in Japan in 1986. That first entry spawned one of the greatest series in gaming history, leading up to Echoes of Wisdom in 2024. Link’s quest to vanquish evil, unite the Triforce, and restore peace to Hyrule…
“That Was Hammond’s Mistake” Jurassic Park’s Exploration of a Moral Question Timothy Brown In a matter of hours Paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant had been confronted with living breathing dinosaurs, and faced living breathing children. He wasn’t sure which made him less comfortable. Businessman John Hammond was relentless in his pursuit of making a baby dinosaur,…
“The Wheel of Time turns, and ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten…” Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time is a story of mythic proportions, following Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, as he marches toward Tarmon Gai’don, the last battle between the forces of good…
Creepers, Colonies and Clones: The Philosophy of Mickey 17 Joshua Jowitt and Zoe Tongue For those who haven’t yet seen it, Mickey 17 is the latest release from South Korean director Bong Joon-Ho, based on the novel Mickey7 by Edward Ashton. The movie is a science-fiction black comedy about two hustlers, Mickey and Timo, who…
Is Downton Abbey Reactionary? Janelle Pötzsch For many people, the popular British TV-series Downton Abbey (2010-2015) is a deeply conservative text which celebrates the social stratification of a bygone-era (Byrne 2015, Layne 2020, Robison 2020). Such interpretation suggests itself especially in the comparison between the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley with Isobel Crawley, mother of the…
The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series 