Philosophy and Breaking Bad PDF
Preview Philosophy and Breaking Bad
Edited by Kevin S. Decker, David R. Koepsell, Robert Arp Philosophy and B reaking Bad Kevin S. Decker • D avid R. Koepsell • R obert A rp Editors Philosophy and Breaking Bad Editors Kevin S. Decker Robert Arp Eastern Washington University Independent Scholar Cheney, USA Overland Park, Kansas, USA David R. Koepsell Comision Nacional de Bioetica , Mexico ISBN 978-3-319-40342-7 (Hardcover) ISBN 978-3-319-40343-4 (eBook) ISBN 978-3-319-40665-7 (Softcover) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-40343-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016959579 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprint- ing, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, com- puter software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover design by Samantha Johnson Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland For Suzanne, Vanessa, and Susan TO W.W. MY STAR, MY PERFECT SILENCE vii C ONTENTS Part 1 “We Tried to Poison You”: Breaking Evil 1 1 What’s Stopping Me: B reaking Bad and Virtue Ethics 3 Jen Baker 2 Eichmann in Albuquerque 17 Karen Adkins 3 Empathy and Evil: Drug-Dealing Murderers Are People Too 35 Charlene Elsby and Rob Luzecky Part 2 “ I Am the One Who Knocks”: The Shadow of Death and the Meaning of Life 45 4 In the Shadow of the Sickness Unto Death: Walter White’s Transformation into the Knight of Meth 4 7 Frank Scalambrino 5 Death Is Easy If You’re Dead 6 3 Christopher Ketcham 6 Cosmic Justice in B reaking Bad : Can Sociopaths and Antiheroes Lead Meaningful Lives? 77 Kimberly Blessing ix x CONTENTS 7 Law and Morality in B reaking Bad : The Aesthetics of Justice 9 3 David Koepsell Part 3 “ I Will Put You Under the Jail”: The Tragedy of Breaking Bad 107 8 The Crumbling Patriarchy and Triumphant Feminist Ethic of Care in B reaking Bad 1 09 Leigh Kolb 9 What Bad Is Not: B reaking Bad , Apophatic and Dramaturgic Continua from Creator to Viewer, and a Poetics of the Philosophy of Religion 1 23 Jesse Abbot Part 4 “I Did It for Me”: Morality, Mastery and Meth 141 10 Recovering Lost Moral Ground: Can Walt Make Amends? 143 James Edwin Mahon and Joseph Mahon 11 (Im)Morality in Action 161 Travis Dyk and Adam Barkman 12 The Transformation of Walter White: A Case Study in Bad Faith 1 75 Leslie A. Aarons 13 Breaking Bonds: White Lines of Love and Hate 1 91 Sara Waller Part 5 B ecoming Jesse James: B reaking Bad’s Challenge to Philosophy 1 99 14 Hatred: Walter White Is Doing It All Wrong 2 01 Kevin Guilfoy CONTENTS xi 15 “We Are Responsible to All for All”: An Intersubjective Analysis of B reaking Bad 2 17 Sheridan Hough 16 Theater of the Absurd: B reaking Bad as Edifying Philosophy 2 33 Kevin S. Decker B ibliography 249 Index 261 C ONTRIBUTORS Leslie A. Aarons , Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Philosophy at City University of New York LaGuardia Community College. She specializes in public philoso- phy, popular culture, and environmental ethics. Her more recent publications include “Underwood as Übermensch: A Postmodern Play of Power” in H ouse of Cards and Philosophy: Underwood’s Republic and “When a Charming Woman Speaks” in S ons of Anarchy and Philosophy: Brains before Bullets . She conducts specialized classes in environmental ethics and is currently writing a book on the subject. J. I. A bbot , P h.D. is Professor of English and Philosophy at Tunxis Community College in Farmington, CT. A poet, essayist, and translator with a focus on comparative Indo–Tibetan philosophies and their nexus to the philosophy of religion, philosophy of science, and poetics, Abbot completed an MFA in Literary Arts at Brown University, and his undergraduate work in Languages and Literature at Bard College. His collection of poems, A n Argument of Dreams , will be published in 2017 by La Bohème, an imprint affi liated with the literary and political journal P eripheral Surveys . Karen A dkins , Ph.D. i s Professor of Philosophy at Regis University in Denver, Colorado. She has published articles in Social Epistemology , P hilosophy in the Modern World , and Synergies . Her book, K nowledge Underground: Gossip, Hypocrisy, Power , is forthcoming from Palgrave MacMillan. Robert A rp , P h.D. is a research analyst working on models and simulations for the US Army at Ft. Leavenworth. He has interests in philosophy and popular culture. His more recent publications include W hat’s Good on TV? Understanding Ethics through Television , a second edition of C ritical Thinking: An Introduction to Reasoning Well , and 1001 Quotations to Enlighten, Entertain, and Inspire . See r obertarp.com . Jennifer Baker , Ph.D. i s Associate Professor at the College of Charleston in the Department of Philosophy. She looks to what is relevant in ancient accounts of xiii
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