Description
Book SynopsisTRUEBLOOD and Philosophy
Does God hate fangs?
Is Sam still Sam when he turns into a collie?
Is coming out of the coffin the same as coming out of the closet?
Are all vampires created evil?
Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, fairies, telepathsTrue Blood has it all. In a world where supernatural creatures coexist with human beings, Sookie Stackhouse and Bill Compton wrestle with powerful desires while facing complex issues concerning sex, romance, bigotry, violence, death, and immortality. Now, True Blood and Philosophy calls on the minds of some of history's great thinkers to perform some philosophical bloodletting on this thought-provoking series. From the metaphysics of mind reading to Maryann Forrester's cult of Dionysus, from vampire politics to the nature of personal identity, and from contemporary feminism to the rights of nonhuman species, True Blood and Philosophy mines the thinking of philoso
Trade Review
Can John Locke's memory theory explain the nature of vampire identity? Is there a PETA message buried in True Blood's take on vampire-human relations? These and other biting issues constitute the smart and amusing essays in the latest William Irwin-edited Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series (after Mad Men and Philosophy). Authors invoke the likes of Kant, Sartre, and Freud and approach their topics with the seriousness of a devoted fan balanced with the levity and wit the series is known for. More than one essay focusing on God and vampires duplicate efforts, but highlights include Christopher Robichaud's examination of consent in creating a vampire, William M. Curtis's discussion of metaphor and the mainstreaming of blood suckers, Ron Hirschbein's exploration of the "Edible Complex," and Patricia Brace and Robert Arp's analysis of the not-so-subtle similarities between vampire rights and gay rights. These easily-digestible philosophical morsels are perfect for fans of Jon Stewart and anyone else who likes to laugh while they learn. (June) (PW.com, August 16, 2010)
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments: For the “Supes” We Just Can’t Live Without ix
Introduction: “If a Tree Falls in the Woods, It’s Still a Tree—Ain’t It?” 1
Part One “I Used to Hate Vampires, Until I Got To Know One”: Vampire-human Ethics
1 To Turn or Not to Turn: The Ethics of Making Vampires 7
Christopher Robichaud
2 Dressing Up and Playing Human: Vampire Assimilation in the Human Playground 19
Jennifer Culver
3 Pets, Cattle, and Higher Life Forms on True Blood 33
Ariadne Blayde and George A. Dunn
Part Two “life-challenged Individuals”: The Politics of Being Dead
4 Signed in Blood: Rights and the Vampire-Human Social Contract 51
Joseph J. Foy
5 “Honey, If We Can’t Kill People, What’s the Point of Being a Vampire?”: Can Vampires Be Good Citizens? 65
William M. Curtis
6 Un-True Blood: The Politics of Artificiality 79
Bruce A. McClelland
Part Three “their Very Blood Is Seductive”: Eros, Sexuality, and Gender
7 Coming Out of the Coffin and Coming Out of the Closet 93
Patricia Brace and Robert Arp
8 “I Am Sookie, Hear Me Roar!”: Sookie Stackhouse and Feminist Ambivalence 109
Lillian E. Craton and Kathryn E. Jonell
9 Sookie, Sigmund, and the Edible Complex 123
Ron Hirschbein
Part Four “i Am Actually Older Than Your Jesus”: Natural, Supernatural, and Divine
10 Let the Bon Temps Roll: Sacrifice, Scapegoats, and Good Times 139
Kevin J. Corn and George A. Dunn
11 Are Vampires Unnatural? 157
Andrew Terjesen and Jenny Terjesen
12 Does God Hate Fangs? 175
Adam Barkman
Part Five “our Existence Is Insanity”: the Metaphysics of Supernatural Beings
13 A Vampire’s Heart Has Its Reasons That Scientific Naturalism Can’t Understand 187
Susan Peppers-Bates and Joshua Rust
14 Keeping Secrets from Sookie 203
Fred Curry
15 Vampires, Werewolves, and Shapeshifters: The More They Change, the More They Stay the Same 215
Sarah Grubb
Contributors: “I Don’t Know Who You Think You Are, but Before the Night Is Through .” 229
Index: Sookie’s Words of the Day 237
