Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside (Popular Culture and Philosophy) [Paperback]

Courtland Lewis (Editor), Paula Smithka (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2010 | Series: Popular Culture and Philosophy (Book 55)

In Doctor Who and Philosophy, a team of mostly human philosophers (who are also fans) looks at the deeper issues raised by the Doctor's mind-blowing adventures. They discuss, among other topics, the Doctor's philosophy of science, the ethics of a universe with millions of intelligent species, what makes one life-form more important than another, whether time travelers can change history, and how the Doctor Who TV show is changing the world we live in. The chapters draw freely on both the classic series (1963–1989) and the new series. The book includes a collection of entertaining and insightful quotes from Doctor Who plus a complete list of episodes and companions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Opening this book is like opening the door to the TARDIS: we get to spend time with our favorite incarnations of the Doctor whether the First, the Fourth, the Eleventh, or Doctor-Donna, and ponder what it means to travel through time, grow a new personality, fall in love, sacrifice for a greater good, and experience the cosmos for all the wonder it is. Really, Doctor Who and Philosophy is even better than a Sonic Screwdriver.”

—JOSEF STEIFF, Professor of Film at Columbia College Chicago and author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Independent Filmmaking


“This dimensionally transcendental volume explains what the Doctor never gets around to until later: the basics of Gallifreyan philosophy and ethics, as translated through Earth’s philosophers. A fun, informative volume for folks interested in an introduction to philosophy through the vortex of Doctor Who.”

—LYNNE M. THOMAS, co-editor of Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It


“Lewis and Smithka have done all sapient species a brilliant service by introducing Doctor Who and Philosophy into the time continuum. Like the Doctor’s human companions, we get to travel through a universe of Big Ideas with a caring, clever, and, yes, conflicted friend. Next to a real TARDIS swooping down and carrying us off, nothing could beat the experience of reading this book.”

—PATRICK D. HOPKINS, editor of Sex/Machine


“Doctor Who and Philosophy makes you want to go right back to episodes like ‘Robot’ and ‘The Brain of Morbius’ so you can watch them again, now that you know what they’re really about. No series in the entire history of television has lit up all the beacons of classic philosophy like Doctor Who, and this brilliant book is chock full of Time Lord enlightenment.”

—ROB ARP, Consulting Ontologist and author of Scenario Visualization: An Evolutionary Account of Creative Problem Solving


“An intriguing collection of essays that examines Doctor Who from every philosophical angle imaginable. Do you want theories and contradictions of time travel? It’s in there. Do you want a deep examination of the nature of identity, as understood through the Doctor and his regenerative ability? It’s in there, too, and it is considered from a variety of philosophical approaches. And so is much, much more. Lewis and Smithka have assembled a fascinating anthology, one that all Who fans, media scholars, and armchair philosophers should want on their shelves.”

—CHRIS HANSEN, editor of Ruminations, Peregrinations, and Regenerations: A Critical Approach to Doctor Who

About the Author

Courtland Lewis is a lifelong Doctor Who fan and a doctoral candidate in philosophy at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Paula Smithka is the coeditor of Community, Diversity, and Difference: Implications for Peace. She is also an associate professor of philosophy at The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.

Product Details

• Paperback: 429 pages
• Publisher: Open Court; Original edition (December 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812696883
• ISBN-13: 978-0812696882
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 1.3 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Philosophy > Criticism

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars So close to perfection for Doctor Who fans... January 3, 2011

By Chris Bunch

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Let's start off by saying that I'm a relatively new Doctor Who fan - I've only seen the Ninth Doctors onwards. That being said, I'm in love with the show and when I saw this book, immediately wanted it for Christmas. It's a great book and definitely the best of the 'X and Philosophy' series, and would definitely recommend it to Doctor Who fans. Here's a short list of the pros and cons that I jotted down while reading this book:

Pros:

* Almost all the chapters put forward an interesting premise and follow it through to satisfaction.
* Older Doctor Who material is pulled in and explained well to newcomers: there's definitely a lot of catching up that I have to do now thanks to this book, and now I know exactly what I want to check out.
* A few chapters really stand out as being great - the authors' chapters in particular are extremely well written, as well as "Chapter 22: Overcoming Evil, and Spite, and Resentment, and Revenge" and "Chapter 29: The Evil of the Daleks."

Cons:

* The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) is on the cover of the book, but there's only one or two really short references to him throughout the entire book. As the book is published in December 2010 and the Fifth Series ends in June 2010, it seems like just long enough to either include him in or cut him from the cover. It's especially odd to leave him on the cover since the Fifth Series has a number of interesting time-travel-related questions in it that I was really looking forward to seeing here.
* While it may be forgivable that the Eleventh Doctor is missing in action here, it's strange that 99% of the discussion stops at the end of Series Four, at "Journey's End." This means we don't get to even see the end of the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) at "The End of Time" (with two minor exceptions) and once again, we're missing out on a ton of great material by not getting really any coverage of it or "The Waters of Mars".
* Although many of the chapters are distinct from each other, the most prevalent question by far is "is the Doctor still the same person before and after regenerations?" This would be fine, but since this shows up for at least six chapters of the book (four of which are in a row), this means you'll become very familiar with Locke's theory of memory continuity very quickly, and unfortunately, you'll become bored of it very quickly.

The pros really add up and make it worth the inexpensive selling price, but the cons stop it from being what I would call perfection. So now that you know what you're getting into, Doctor Who fans, pick up this book and get reading!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars It really is bigger on the inside! November 23, 2011

By Massimo Pigliucci

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

[A full review will appear soon in Philosophy Now magazine] I vaguely remember hearing about Doctor Who when I was growing up in Italy in the `70s, but never actually watched it. Then, when the BBC restarted the series in 2005 I decided it was time to see what all the fuss was about. I've been hooked ever since, and I occasionally use Doctor Who episodes in my introductory classes in philosophy because it's a natural (intelligent, and entertaining!) entry point for discussions about personal identity, the metaphysics of time travel, and, of course, ethics, ethics, ethics. I was therefore delighted to see this recent addition to the "Popular Culture and Philosophy" series. At over 400 pages the book isn't exactly light reading, though it will pay off handsomely for anyone interested in science fiction and philosophy. Still, my only complain about the volume is precisely that the editors could have done a better job at trimming it down, particularly reducing the number of (largely redundant) essays in the first part, on personal identity, a theme that also recurs (again, redundantly) in some of the later essays. Apart from this little quibble, however, there is much to enjoy in this collection. Besides the obvious topics mentioned above, we are also treated to Doctor-informed discussions of aesthetics (why, exactly, are the Daleks beautiful?), human nature ("Human beings, you're amazing. Apart from that, you're completely mad!"), the relevance of monadology to the Whoniverse, and even a discussion of the Jesus-like (shouldn't it really be Socrates-like?) character of the Doctor. There is so much more food for thought in Doctor Who and Philosophy that readers are warmly encouraged to see for themselves just how much bigger this book is on the inside. And remember: "Time travel is like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guidebook, you've got to throw yourself in! Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers! ... Or is that just me?" ("The Long Game," 2007).

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Doctor Who and Philosophy (Popular Culture and Philosophy) April 30, 2011

By April D.

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I have always enjoyed the Doctor Who series, but never knew how grounded it was in philosophy. I actually read this book as part of an anthropology course on Doctor Who at UCSD. Anthropologists like to study the series because it is the longest running science fiction series in history. It reveals a great deal not only about the philosophy, ethics, and outlooks of the day, but about the changes that have occurred in society, especially British society, over the decades since its 1963 debut. The book features different articles on philosophical subjects relating to Doctor Who and how they have changed or remained the same over time, and what this means about the culture that has birthed the series. It is a must read if you are a fan, or just want to study an excellent example of philosophy meeting pop culture. I highly recommend this book as both an intelligent, informative, and entertaining in depth look at Doctor Who and the philosophy that drives this series.