Breaking Bad and Philosophy: Badder Living through Chemistry (Popular Culture and Philosophy) [Paperback]

David R. Koepsell (Editor), Robert Arp (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2012 | Series: Popular Culture and Philosophy (Book 67)

Breaking Bad, hailed by Stephen King, Chuck Klosterman, and many others as the best of all TV dramas, tells the story of a man whose life changes because of the medical death sentence of an advanced cancer diagnosis. The show depicts his metamorphosis from inoffensive chemistry teacher to feared drug lord and remorseless killer. Driven at first by the desire to save his family from destitution, he risks losing his family altogether because of his new life of crime.

In defiance of the tradition that viewers demand a TV character who never changes, Breaking Bad is all about the process of change, with each scene carrying forward the morphing of Walter White into the terrible Heisenberg.

Can a person be transformed as the result of a few key life choices? Does everyone have the potential to be a ruthless criminal? How will we respond to the knowledge that we will be dead in six months? Is human life subject to laws as remorseless as chemical equations? When does injustice validate brutal retaliation? Why are drug addicts unsuitable for operating the illegal drug business? How can TV viewers remain loyal to a series where the hero becomes the villain? Does Heisenberg’s Principle of Uncertainty rule our destinies?

In Breaking Bad and Philosophy, a hand-picked squad of professional thinkers investigate the crimes of Walter White, showing how this story relates to the major themes of philosophy and the major life decisions facing all of us.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David R. Koepsell is Associate Professor of Philosophy, Values and Technology Section, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. He is the author of numerous books, including Who Owns You? The Corporate Gold Rush to Patent Your Genes (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009) and Science and Ethics (Prometheus, 2007).
Robert Arp is a philosopher with a doctorate from Saint Louis University. He is the co-author with Jamie Watson of What's Good on TV: Understanding Ethics through Television (Wiley-Blackwell, 2011) and Philosophy DeMYSTiFiedD (McGraw-Hill, 2011). He is co-editor with Mark White of Batman and Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008). He is author of Scenario Visualization (MIT Press, 2008) and author or editor of many other works.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Open Court (July 10, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812697642
• ISBN-13: 978-0812697643
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.7 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,590 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Read.Think. Enjoy July 26, 2012

By Marty3

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Unless you are a failed philosopy major, aren't a Breaking Bad fan, or have a serious vendetta against Open Court, you can't help but enjoy this stimulating collection of essays. Used to be the word Philosophy would numb most laymen. How wonderful that philosophy has breached the ivory tower and is now a discipline accesible to all. Questions about choices, about health and mortal illness, about responsibility, about good and evil, all central issues in Breaking Bad are discussed and analyzed from different points of view and with some different conclusions. But each essay inspires us to really THINK instead of simply watch. The whole experience of reading this book and the other Philosophy and Popular culture series is that of having a great conversation at the end of a really good movie. Do people do that anymore? Well worth buying, reading and discussing.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars must read for the BB fan1 January 31, 2013

By eggcream

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

A must for the obsessed hard core Breaking Bad fan (like myself)! Great gift ! Easy read and insightful. Recommended reading

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Breaking Philosophy for the Masses July 28, 2012

By Matty B

Format:Paperback

This latest entry in Open Court's 'Philosophy' series makes a fun and thought provoking companion piece to AMC's drug-fueled serial drama. Breaking Bad is a show that dwells in the muck and the murk of moral greyness and that continually asks hard questions about right and wrong, self-service and justifiability, and the choices that can lead any person to ends both good and evil...and Breaking Bad & Philosophy does an exceptional job of probing beyond the questions that lie on the show's surface and delving into issues even more deeply embedded in its DNA.

Essays like Anderson & Lopez's "Meth, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness," Kimberly Baltzer-Jaray's "Finding Happiness in a Black Hat," and Denise Du Vernay's "Breaking Bonds" (a thoughtful deconstruction of the part that gender roles, sexual politics, and feminist philosophies play in the show's narrative) all take subject matter that is woven into the series' fabric and explore their chosen topics with care and concern, looking at the show through a variety of analytical prisms.

Not every included essay hits the same high notes, but there is enough substance and enough fun in these pages to warrant perusing. If you're already a fan of Breaking Bad, you'll enjoy the painstaking detail with which these authors have interpreted the show and its many pet themes.

And like the best entries in the Philosophy books, BB&P explores age old ideas in the light of our latest pop cultural obsessions, providing a read that relates complex issues to a contemporary audience who might not otherwise realize the depth and the breadth of the topics being dissected each week by their favorite Appointment TV Shows.

Du Vernay's "Breaking Bonds" is my personal favorite of all the book's chapters, but there are many standout pieces that make it well worth your time. Overall, a great summer read!