The Philosopher's Eye

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The essay below appears as Chapter 5 of Bridgerton and Philosophy, edited by Jessica Miller. Bridgerton and Philosophy: Understanding Happily Ever After Jessica Miller Viewers love Bridgerton for many reasons—its visual allure, fantasy Regency setting, dramatic plots, swoony romance, and, of course, the inimitable Lady Whistledown—but foremost among those is the promise of a happy ending. The…

Bridgerton and Philosophy: Dukes, Debutantes, and Deep Questions  Edited by Jessica Miller A witty, thoughtful tour through love, duty, and desire in the world of Bridgerton Bridgerton and Philosophy dives into the irresistible world of Bridgerton to explore the big questions hiding beneath the corsets, courtships, and candlelight. What does it really mean to fall in love―or to stay in love?…

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 Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). At the very beginning of the game, when you…

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. Around him, the entire world spins on loss — destroyed…

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 the inner self—a kind of rock opera where the main character is a feeling: love. The…

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 emerges as a philosophical…

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 [email protected] Both fans and critics praise The Bear for its intense and unflinching portrayal of the…

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 is at the heart of most Zelda games, but it’s…

“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, and over lunch Grant had barely…

“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 and evil. Male and Female ‘channelers’ wield complementary halves…

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 join a space colonisation mission in order to escape loan sharks on…

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…

Severance and Philosophy Call for Abstracts Edited by Eric Bronson and Jason T. Eberl 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 [email protected] Severance is a highly popular and critically acclaimed…

Shōgun and the Philosophy of Deception Edwardo Pérez FX Productions’ award winning 2024 adaptation of James Clavell’s 1975 novel, Shōgun (which streams on Disney+ and Hulu), dramatizes many philosophical issues—from the moral issues involving duty and the greater good depicted through the subtleties of Japanese culture, and the various codes of honor observed through rituals, especially the…

Listen to Joshua Horn, editor of The Last of Us and Philosophy, discussing the book on the ProfNoctis podcast.

The essay below originally appears as Chapter of Black Sabbath and Philosophy: Mastering Reality. Beyond Good and Evil Facing your Demons with Black Sabbath and Existentialism William Irwin You know about the lost Black Sabbath album, right? They recorded it with Ozzy in 1999, but legal battles kept it from being released. It was supposed to be called Beyond Good and Evil. Here’s the track…