Game of Thrones and Philosophy
Page 28
3. Michel Foucault, The History of Madness (New York: Routledge, 2009), p. 163.
4. George R. R. Martin, A Clash of Kings (New York: Bantam Dell, 2005), pp. 7–8.
5. Ibid., p. 8.
6. George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones (New York: Bantam Dell, 2005), p. 299.
7. Martin, A Storm of Swords, p. 820.
8. Martin, A Clash of Kings, p. 45.
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid., p. 46.
11. Ibid.
12. Michel Foucault, “What Is Critique?” in The Essential Foucault: Selections from the Essential Works of Foucault, 1954–1984, eds. P. Rabinow and N. Rose (New York: New Press, 2003), p. 275.
13. Martin, A Clash of Kings, p. 530.
14. Martin, A Game of Thrones, p. 45.
15. Ibid., p. 253.
16. Martin, A Clash of Kings, p. 798.
17. George R. R. Martin, A Feast for Crows (New York: Bantam Dell, 2005), p. 331.
18. Martin, A Storm of Swords, p. 158.
19. Martin, A Clash of Kings, p. 311.
20. Martin, A Feast for Crows, p. 561.
21. Ibid., p. 191.
22. Michel Foucault, “About the Concept of the ‘Dangerous Individual’ in Nineteenth Century Legal Psychiatry,” in The Essential Foucault, p. 213.
23. Martin, A Game of Thrones, p. 85.
24. Martin, A Storm of Swords, p. 156.
25. Martin, A Game of Thrones, p. 112.
26. Ibid.
27. Ibid., p. 115.
28. Ibid., p. 112.
29. Martin, A Storm of Swords, p. 586.
30. Martin, A Game of Thrones, p. 353.
31. Michel Foucault, “About the Concept of the ‘Dangerous Individual’ in Nineteenth Century Legal Psychiatry,” in The Essential Foucault, p. 214.
32. Ibid., pp. 215–216.
33. Michel Foucault, “Technologies of the Self,” in The Essential Foucault, p. 146.
34. Martin, A Clash of Kings, p. 487.
35. Foucault, History of Madness, p. 343.
36. Martin, A Storm of Swords, p. 987.
37. Martin, A Game of Thrones, p. 801.
38. Martin, A Clash of Kings, p. 578.
39. Martin, A Storm of Swords, p. 34.
40. Ibid., p. 35.
41. Ibid., p. 505.
42. Michel Foucault, “On the Genealogy of Ethics: An Overview of Work in Progress,” in The Essential Foucault, p. 104.
43. Of course, mental illness is real, and today there are better criteria for determining whether or not a person is sane. To diagnose mental illness, psychiatrists today use the criteria in the following: American Psychiatric Association, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., rev.) (Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000).
44. “Truth, Power Self: An Interview with Michel Foucault,” in Technologies of the Self, eds. L. Martin, H. Gutman, and P. Hutton (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1988), pp. 9–15.
45. Martin, A Game of Thrones, p. 803.
CONTRIBUTORS
The Learned Lords and Ladies from beyond the Seven Kingdoms
Albert J. J. Anglberger is a postdoc research fellow at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (LMU Munich) and has published papers in logic, ethics, philosophy of science, and philosophy of religion. He earned his Maester’s chain at the University of Salzburg, under the guidance of Maester Alexander Hieke, amongst others. Just recently Albert was sent away to the Citadel of Munich to earn further links for his chain by doing research in mathematical philosophy. Although he claims not to be a nerd, he still immerses himself in all kinds of nerdish stuff: from pen-and-paper role-playing, to an addiction to graphic novels, to fantasy and science fiction, to always having to buy the latest gadgets. Sometimes he is quite self-confident and believes he could even outsmart Tyrion Lannister and outdrink Robert Baratheon.
Richard H. Corrigan is currently in exile from his fair native land, Ireland, due to the dark tyrannies of economics and opportunity, and is presently suing for support in the Kingdom of Gloucestershire. He has served under many lords and houses, including the Open University, the University of Reading, the University of the West of England, and Malvern College, having first gained his doctoral letters at University College Dublin. He has scribed numerous tomes dedicated to philosophy and religion, including Ethics: A University Guide, Divine Hiddenness, Divine Foreknowledge and Moral Responsibility, The Self-Revelation of the Judeo-Christian God, and Philosophical Frontiers. He has written in various learned journals. The Corrigan House’s emblem is a lizard and two shamrocks, and its words are Never mind, it could be worse!
Edward Cox was born in Oklahoma and apprenticed at the University of Chicago, which is much like Winterfell without the natural hot springs to keep the bathrooms warm. He earned his Maester’s chain, or PhD, in philosophy from the University of Oklahoma. Like Tyrion Lannister, he is rarely to be found without a book, most of them on philosophy of mind and metaphysics. He has taught at several universities and is currently a lecturer at Georgia State University. He lives with his wife, Erika Tracy, a published fantasy author, a young son named after his favorite fantasy character, and a pack of direwolves (or German shepherds, as they are called in America).
R. Shannon Duval is an associate professor of philosophy at Mount Mary College, a second-degree black belt in tae kwon do, and a national champion in kali arnis. Daughter of houses Yin and Yang (House Words: The Obstacle Is the Path), fostered to House Fulbright, she traveled to distant lands and learned that while the pen is mightier than the sword in all of them, swords are still an awful lot of fun. Known as “The Wonderninja” for her dual careers as philosopher and martial artist, she is the editor of The Encyclopedia of Ethics and a coauthor of Engineering Ethics and publishes in the areas of comparative philosophy and philosophy of contemporary culture. She is sure she could be busier, but somehow the ravens keep “getting lost.” Whilst awaiting their return, she spends her time pondering the original nature of snowmen, attending the three wildlings posing as her heirs, practicing water dancing, and avoiding red weddings.
Don Fallis is associate professor of information resources and adjunct associate professor of philosophy at the University of Arizona. He has written several philosophy articles on lying and deception, including “What Is Lying?” in the Journal of Philosophy and “The Most Terrific Liar You Ever Saw in Your Life” in the forthcoming The Catcher in the Rye and Philosophy. He has always felt that it is just too easy to tell which side someone is on in Middle Earth and in Narnia. His sigil is a coyote, brown, on a red field. His words are “Trust Me on This.”
Stacey Goguen studies philosophy at Boston University, where she works on feminist philosophy, philosophy of race, and philosophy of science. She takes every opportunity to incorporate pop culture and video games into her work (whenever she is not playing video games or slavishly devouring pop culture). Her house words are “Dinner Is Coming.”
Daniel Haas descends from House Haas, a small but notable family with most of their land holdings situated north of the Wall, in the frozen wastelands of Canada. Upon hearing that winter is coming, he fled south to Florida State University, Tallahassee, where he is currently a philosophy graduate student. His research interests include Valyrian-steel forging, Dothraki language and culture, and the philosophy of action. When teaching, he always makes it a point to stress that you stick ’em with the pointy end.
David Hahn is a maester in training, working at forging his philosophy link at the University of Buffalo’s PhD program. Currently in his second year, most of his work is about not getting sent to the Wall. At the Trident, he made a mark for himself in The Sopranos and Philosophy, Poker and Philosophy, and Final Fantasy and Philosophy. In his free time he makes sure that his daughter stays away from all Needles.
Alexander Hieke has been teaching philosophy at the University of Salzburg, Austria, for twenty years now. During this time he also received his Maester’s chain. He was r
ecently appointed head of his department. His research focuses on the areas of ontology, epistemology, and philosophy of language. He has been lucky in having quite a few very talented young apprentices, one of whom is his coauthor Albert Anglberger, who just left for the Citadel of Munich to continue his research there. Fifteen years ago, one of Alexander’s Maesters introduced him to the scholars from a school beyond the big sea, located in Portland, Oregon. He was invited to teach their students at their Salzburg Campus, and he still enjoys educating the young sophomores in ethics there. When not busy with administrative duties, teaching, or research, Alexander loves to read about lands and ages far, far away (which some people claim to be only imaginary). And sometimes he meets with friends, armed with pen and paper only, to fight the forces of evil in those distant realms. That is also where he first encountered the wondrous world of Westeros.
Ser Henry, the Zen Maester of House Jacoby (House words: Everybody Lies) teaches philosophy at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He has published articles on philosophy of mind, language, and religion, and on the nature of moral perception. He also contributed to the volume on South Park and Philosophy. He is the editor of House and Philosophy (now in nine languages!). Known throughout academia unfortunately as “The Deanslayer” (well, it was necessary), he, alas, has no evil twin sister.
The Greg Littmann are a savage clan of sea raiders who sail out from their craggy fastness in the Iron Islands to attack ships and plunder coastal towns. Their fleet has ranged as far as the coast of North Carolina, where they laid siege to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill until it yielded up much booty and awarded the clan a PhD. Emboldened by this success, the Greg Littmann raided the Americas with increasing frequency, plundering Southern Illinois University Edwardsville once a semester, doing great slaughter and teaching critical thinking, media ethics, metaphysics, and the philosophy of mind. Eventually, the clan declared itself assistant professor over the university. From this stronghold, they have published in metaphysics and the philosophy of logic and have written philosophy and popular culture chapters relating to The Big Bang Theory, Breaking Bad, Doctor Who, Dune, Final Fantasy, The Onion, Sherlock Holmes, The Terminator, and The Walking Dead.
Christopher Robichaud is Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. A fan of fantasy fiction his whole life, he started gobbling up George R. R. Martin’s series A Song of Ice and Fire and has never looked back. It’s been suggested to him that he might be taking things too far by asking his policy students to start a campaign to elect Tyrion Lannister for president. All the same, he’s pushing forward. The platform’s simple, really. Elect Tyrion. He’ll be indebted to the country. And a Lannister always pays his debts.
Jaron of the House Schoone, the First of His Name, currently occupies a PhD position in the small but proud Kingdom of the Netherlands, across the Narrow Sea. The position was awarded to him after winning a jousting tournament as the squire of Lord-Professor Knoops of Amsterdam. Jaron spends his days in the Philosophers Tower of the Utrecht University, enjoying honeyed wine from the Arbor while researching the philosophy of science and religion. Whenever the gods grant him the pleasure of teaching a philosophy class, Jaron never fails to remind his students that “those who slack, have to take the Black.”
Marcus Schulzke is an ABD PhD candidate in political science at the State University of New York at Albany. His primary research interests include political theory, comparative politics, political violence, applied ethics, digital media, and video games. In addition to his many scholarly articles and book chapters, he has written chapters for Catcher in the Rye and Philosophy and Inception and Philosophy. Marcus is currently writing a dissertation about how soldiers make moral decisions in combat. He hopes that the soldiers he interviews act more like Ned Stark than like Bronn, and he will advise all of them to avoid angering any Lannisters.
Abraham P. Schwab (House words: Nobody knows) left the urban indifference of Chicago and Brooklyn, New York, for the urbane ignorance of Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he serves as an assistant professor in the Philosophy Department at Indiana and Purdue University’s joint campus. He continues to labor as the cartographer of the intersecting rivers of epistemology and medical ethics, work that has led to publications in the Journal of Medical Ethics, Social Science and Medicine, the American Journal of Bioethics, and the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy. He remains unsure whether George R. R. Martin’s Song will end in the fires of desire or the cold hatred of ice, but is confident that either will suffice.
Michael J. Sigrist teaches philosophy at George Washington University in Washington, DC. His love for fantasy began in the fourth grade, when he discovered the Iron Tower Trilogy by hometown author Dennis McKiernan in the local library. Michael’s research focuses on the philosophy of mind, and recently he has written on the nature of time and temporal perception, fatalism, and personal identity. Naturally Michael admires the wit of Tyrion, the valor of Robb, and the resourcefulness of Arya, but if you ply him with enough wine, he will admit that, all things considered, Tywin might have been the least bad option for Westeros. Michael’s House words are randomly selected on a weekly basis from the lyrical songbook of the rock band Cinderella. This week: It’s gonna be a long cold winter.
Eric J. Silverman is assistant professor of philosophy and religious studies at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. His conquests include a dozen publications, such as chapters in Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy and Twilight and Philosophy. His first monograph is entitled The Prudence of Love: How Possessing the Virtue of Love Benefits the Lover. In spite of these accomplishments, Silverman is best known for his House words: Never pay the gold price, pay the Silver price instead.
Matthew Tedesco is associate professor of philosophy at Beloit College in Wisconsin, where the words “winter is coming” are spoken ominously each autumn. His interests are in ethical theory and practical ethics, and he has contributed essays to both James Bond and Philosophy and Facebook and Philosophy. He is sometimes referred to, with only minimal respect, as “The Molehill That Jogs.”
Chad William Timm is an assistant professor of education at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa. He has chapters forthcoming in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy and The Hunger Games and Philosophy. While spending a year North of the Wall living among the wildlings, he learned to question the role that power played in constructing his personal identity. As a result he moved back south with his direwolf “Bandit” and now encourages future teachers to use postmodern philosophy in their classrooms.
Scoffing at the prospect of life as a noble lady, Katherine Tullmann struck out to achieve greatness in the Kingdom of Manhattan. Once there, she had to make a decision between earning her keep as a rogue knight-errant dedicated to keeping the peace or a humble scholar devoted to a life of the mind. In the end she chose the latter; Katherine is currently forging her Maester’s chain at the City University of New York Graduate Center, completing links in the philosophy of mind and philosophy of art. In her free time, she wrote a chapter for Inception and Philosophy and other essays on art and emotions. When Katherine finishes her training, she hopes to be placed somewhere in the North, where she can spend her time quietly reflecting in the weirwoods.
INDEX
From the Archives at Oldtown
abortion, biomedical ethics on
absolute certainty
accountability, morality and
“Active and Passive Euthanasia” (Rachels)
Aegon
American Medical Association
Apology (Plato)
appetite, happiness and
Aristotle
fatalism and
happiness and
Nicomachean Ethics
virtue ethics and
Arryn, Jon
Arryn, Lady Lysa Tully
Arryn, Lord Robert
Arthur, Leonard
Arth
ur (King) (legend)
Augustine, Saint
Austin, J. L.
authenticity
autonomy
biomedical ethics and
fatalism and
Aztecs
Baelish, Lord Petyr “Littlefinger”
chivalry and
game theory and
idealism and
lying and
morality and
power and
self-interest and
Baelor the Beloved
Baratheon, Joffrey (Prince/King)
incest and
insanity and
just war theory and
lying and
morality and
Ned’s idealism and
power and
problem of evil and
social contract theory and
virtue ethics and
Baratheon, Myrcella
Baratheon, Renly
chivalry and
just war theory and
problem of evil and
Baratheon, Robert (King)
game theory and
happiness and
idealism and
insanity and
just war theory and
lying and
power and
problem of evil and
social contract theory and
Baratheon, Shireen
Baratheon, Stannis
moral luck and
problem of evil and
Baratheon, Steffon
Baratheon, Tommen
Barra
Beauvoir, Simone de
being, doing vs.
“best possible world”
biomedical ethics
on abortion
burdensomeness and
mercy killing and
Blake, William
Bolton, Ramsay
Bolton, Roose
Bracken, Jonos
Brienne of Tarth
chivalry and
gender and purpose
insanity and
problem of evil and