By William Irwin, David Kyle Johnson published Inception and Philosophy a couple of years ago and delivered a terrific talk about it at Google. I’m a big fan of the films of Christopher Nolan, including Inception and Memento, but I had never noticed Nolan’s unique take on the femme fatale until I read this blog by…
By William Irwin I’m currently working on BioShock and Philosophy with volume editor Luke Cuddy. So far I’ve seen some terrific papers on personal identity, freedom, and possible worlds. I think it’s clear that some video games are works of art that are worthy of philosophical attention. It looks like I’m not alone in this…
By William Irwin I haven’t seen the new Robocop movie, but from the sound of this blog the movie was self consciously philosophical with characters named after contemporary philosophers of mind Daniel Dennett and Hubert Dreyfus.
John Candy and Philosophy Harry Crumb Meets Edmund Gettier David Kyle Johnson A friend of mine on Facebook (Chris Heimsoth) posted a request for his friends’ “favorite John Candy movie.” I immediately suggested Who’s Harry Crumb?, one of Candy’s lesser known comedies that I grew up on (because it happened to be on the same…
American Horror Story and Philosophy Can Horror Stories Have Happy Endings? Benjamin W. McCraw Unlike fairy tales, the protagonist of a horror story/movie doesn’t really live ‘happily ever after’ due to the carnage, death, and destruction often bobbing the wake of the struggle to survive the ordeal and slay the evil demon/ghost/monster/killer/alien/whatever. The hero/ine comes…
House of Cards and Philosophy Why Write about Popular Culture J. Edward Hackett Philosophy is everywhere, but it conceals itself, hidden behind the debates internal to its own activities. There are many reasons why philosophy does not have a higher profile in the wider culture. Let me just suggest a few: First, philosophy is not…
True Detective and Philosophy The Light Is Winning Sarah K. Donovan It’s an understatement to say that Rustin Cohle is intense. The “tax man” sets himself apart from the norm and doesn’t shy away from speaking hard truths. Only Cohle would shut down his friend Hart’s emotional outpouring to him about his failing marriage with…
We recently caught up with George Dunn, editor of the recently published Veronica Mars and Philosophy: Investigating the Mysteries of Life (Which is a Bitch Until You Die). George tells us about the record-breaking Kickstarter campaign which bankrolled the recent movie, talks a bit about why he loves the show, and explains why it has hidden philosophical depths. Don’t forget to read…
The sassy private investigator of the critically acclaimed Veronica Mars series gets the philosophical treatment – just published! Click the link below to read a free chapter from Veronica Mars and Philosophy: Investigating the Mysteries of Life (Which is a Bitch Until You Die). Read a FREE CHAPTER Read More
Weeds and Philosophy Pop Aesthetics and Grotesque Beauty Anna Faktorovich I watched all 8 seasons of Weeds on Netflix, and re-watched the first two seasons today, as I did my laundry, shopping and cooking, to grab the screenshots that follow and to refresh my memory for this article. The obvious angle to take on this…
The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series 