Social Contract Theory
30. Maester Hobbes Goes to King’s Landing (Game of Thrones)
By Greg Littmann
Pop Culture Resources:
-A Beginner’s Guide To Game of Thrones (medium.com)
Philosophical Resources:
-British Library: About the Leviathan
-Leviathan (full online text, easily navigable)
-Video (The Kahn Academy): Social Contract Theory
31. Lost’s State of Nature
By Richard Davies
Pop Culture Resources:
-Fun short (400 word) summaries of Lost
-Video: Lost in 8 Minutes
-Jacob Stolworthy on understanding the ending of Lost (The Independent)
Philosophical Resources:
-André Munro on Different Conceptions of The State of Nature (Britannica)
-Victor Oliveira on Hobbes and Rousseau’s State of Nature (medium.com)
-Rousseau’s Discourse on inequality (full online text, easily navigable)
-Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff explain the Prisoner’s dilemma (Library of Economics and Liberty)
Marxism
32. Federation Trekonomics: Marx, the Federation, and the Shift from Necessity to Freedom
By Jeff Ewing
Pop Culture Resources:
-Star Trek Basics (wiki)
-Kimberly French (wired.com) on the basics of the Star Trek economy
Philosophical Resources:
-Karl Marx “Revenues and Their Sources: The Trinity Formula”
-Britannica on Marx, Engels, and other forms of communism
-Bertell Ollman (NYU), “Marx’s vision of communism”
Rawls
33. Superman and Justice
By Christopher Robichaud
Pop Culture Resources:
-Superman Bio and basics
-Superman’s Story (wiki)
Philosophical Resources:
-Jan Garrett summarizes Rawls’s conception of justice
-Noah Levin summarizes Nozick’s Anarchy, State, and Utopia
-Philosophy Basics: Egalitarianism
-Paul Crider (libertarianism.org) argues that a better conception of social justice addresses oppression and equality of human dignity
Libertarianism
34. Cartman Shrugged: South Park and Libertarian Philosophy
By Paul A. Cantor
Pop Culture Resources:
-“Gnomes” episode summary
-“Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes” episode summary
Philosophical Resources:
-Plato’s Symposium (full text)
-Libertarianism (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
-Short Video (James Ottsen): “The Essential Adam Smith: The Invisible hand”
Race
35. Ninjas, Kobe Bryant, and Yellow Plastic: The LEGO Minifigure and Race
By Roy T. Cook
Pop Culture Resources:
-The wiki on Lego Minifigs
Philosophical Resources:
-Race (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
-Handout (from MIT) on Appiah and Spencer on Race
36. When Tech Meets Tradition: How Wakandan Technology Transcends Anti-Blackness
By Timothy E. Brown
Pop Culture Resources:
-Black Panther Synopsis
-Official Black Panther Website
Philosophical Resources:
-Fable of the Dragon Tyrant
-Toni Morrison Book Overview
-Nnedi Okorafor TED Talk
Political Manipulation
37. Black Mirror and Political Manipulation: How Are We Tricked into Dehumanizing Others?
By Bertha Alvarez Manninen
Pop Culture Resources:
-Black Mirror Overview (wiki)
-Men Against Fire: Episode Summary
-Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command (Book Review)
-Podcast: Black Mirror Cracked: Men Against Fire
Philosophical Resources:
-NPR interview with David Livingstone Smith (includes audio)
-The Face of the Other (selections from Totality and Infinity) by Emmanuel Levinas
-Podcast: Black Mirror Reflections: Men Against Fire
The #MeToo Movement
38. Black Mirror and #DeathTo: What are the Consequences of Trial by Twitter?
By Aline Maya
Pop Culture Resources:
-Black Mirror Overview (wiki)
-Hated in the Nation episode summary
-Cyberbullying article (about Tyler Clementi) mentioned in chapter
-Me Too: History and Inception
-Podcast: Black Mirror Cracked: Hated in the Nation
Philosophical Resources:
-Kathryn J. Norlock, “Online shaming”
-Katie Heaney, “Almost No One Is Falsely Accused of Rape,”
-Paul Bloom and Matthew Jordan “Are We All ‘Harmless Torturers’ Now?”
Rawls’s “Two Concepts of Rules” (with Discussion Questions)
-Cali Slair, “Hannah Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism”
-“BLACK WOMEN’S ACTIVISM AND THE LONG HISTORY BEHIND #METOO” (Readings with Classroom Exercises Based around the MeToo Movement)
-Podcast: Black Mirror Reflections: Hated in the Nation
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