This volume considers the numerous philosophical ideas and arguments found in and inspired by the critically acclaimed series Breaking Bad . This show garnered both critical and popular attention for its portrayal of a cancer-stricken, middle-aged, middle-class, high school chemistry teacher"s drift into the dark world of selling methamphetamine to support his family. Its characters, situations, and aesthetic raise serious and familiar philosophical issues, especially related to ethics and morality. The show provokes a bevy of rich questions and discussion points, such as: What are the ethical issues surrounding drugs? What lessons about existentialism and fatalism does the show present? How does the show grapple with the concept of the end "justifying" the means? Is Walt really free not to "break bad"? Can he be redeemed? What is the definition and nature of badness (or evil) itself? Contributors address these and other questions as they dissect the legacy of the show and discuss
its contributions to philosophical conversations.
Introduction; Kevin S. Decker, David Koepsell, and Robert Arp Part I. "We Tried to Poison You"-Breaking Evil 1. Breaking Bad and Evil; Jen Baker 2. Eichmann in Albuquerque; Karen Adkins 3. Empathy and Evil: Drug-Dealing Murderers are People Too; Charlene Elsby and Rob Luzecky Part II. "I am the One Who Knocks"-the Shadow of Death and the Meaning of Life 4. Shadow of the Sickness Unto Death: Walter White"s Transformation into the Knight of Meth; Frank Scalambrino 5. Death is Easy if You"re Dead; Christopher Ketcham 6. If Sociopaths and Antiheroes Can Lead Meaningful Lives, What Does it All Mean ; Kimberly Blessing Part III. "I Will Put You Under the Jail"-the Tragedy of Breaking Bad 7. Law and Morality in Breaking Bad; David Koepsell 8. One Bad Day-How Did Walter Break Bad ; James B. South 9. "Yo, Bitch"-The Crumbling Masculine Monument and the Reign of Feminist Ethics in Breaking Bad; Leigh Kolb Part IV. "I Did I For Me"-Morality, Mastery and Meth 10. Recovering
Lost Moral Ground: Can Walt Make Amends ; Joseph Mahon and James Edwin Mahon 11. Morality in-Action; Adam Barkman and Travis Dyk12. Bad Faith in Breaking Bad: Walter White and Heisenberg; Leslie Aarons Part V. Becoming Jess James-Breaking Bad"s Challenge to Philosophy 13. Hatred, Vengeance, and Justice; Kevin Guilfoy 14. "We Are Responsible to All for All:" An Intersubjective Analysis of Breaking Bad; Sheridan Hough15. Breaking Bad"s Case Studies in Absurdity; Kevin S. Decker
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Part 1 "We Tried to Poison You": Breaking Evil |
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1 | (44) |
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1 What's Stopping Me: Breaking Bad and Virtue Ethics |
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3 | (14) |
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2 Eichmann in Albuquerque |
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17 | (18) |
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3 Empathy and Evil: Drug-Dealing Murderers Are People Too |
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35 | (10) |
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Part 2 "I Am the One Who Knocks": The Shadow of Death and the Meaning of Life |
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45 | (62) |
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4 In the Shadow of the Sickness Unto Death: Walter White's Transformation into the Knight of Meth |
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47 | (16) |
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5 Death Is Easy If You're Dead |
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63 | (14) |
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6 Cosmic Justice in Breaking Bad: Can Sociopaths and Antiheroes Lead Meaningful Lives? |
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77 | (16) |
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7 Law and Morality in Breaking Bad: The Aesthetics of Justice |
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93 | (14) |
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Part 3 "I Will Put You Under the Jail": The Tragedy of Breaking Bad |
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107 | (34) |
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8 The Crumbling Patriarchy and Triumphant Feminist Ethic of Care in Breaking Bad |
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109 | (14) |
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9 What Bad Is Not: Breaking Bad, Apophatic and Dramaturgic Continua from Creator to Viewer, and a Poetics of the Philosophy of Religion |
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123 | (18) |
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Part 4 "I Did It for Me": Morality, Mastery and Meth |
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141 | (58) |
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10 Recovering Lost Moral Ground: Can Walt Make Amends? |
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143 | (18) |
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11 (Im)Morality in Action |
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161 | (14) |
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12 The Transformation of Walter White: A Case Study in Bad Faith |
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175 | (16) |
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13 Breaking Bonds: White Lines of Love and Hate |
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191 | (8) |
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Part 5 Becoming Jesse James: Breaking Bad's Challenge to Philosophy |
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199 | (50) |
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14 Hatred: Walter White Is Doing It All Wrong |
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201 | (16) |
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15 "We Are Responsible to All for All": An Intersubjective Analysis of Breaking Bad |
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217 | (16) |
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16 Theater of the Absurd: Breaking Bad as Edifying Philosophy |
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233 | (16) |
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| Bibliography |
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249 | (12) |
| Index |
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261 | |
Kevin S. Decker is Professor of Philosophy at Eastern Washington University, USA. He is the author of Who is Who? The Philosophy of Doctor Who and has written many chapters in books on philosophy and popular culture as well as journal articles on ethics, social theory, and political philosophy.
David R. Koepsell has been a tenured associate professor of philosophy at the Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, and a Visiting Professor at UNAM, Instituto de Filosoficas and the Unidad Posgrado, Mexico.
Robert Arp is the author of Scenario Visualization: An Evolutionary Account of Creative Problem Solving and co-author of Philosophy DeMYSTiFieD, Critical Thinking: An Introduction to Reasoning Well, 2nd Edition, and What's Good on TV? Teaching Ethics through Television. He is also editor of 1001 Ideas That Changed the Way We Think, South Park and Philosophy, Tattoos-Philosophy for Everyone: I Ink, Therefore I Am, Psych and Philosophy, Homeland and Philosophy, and The Devil and Philosophy.
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