Avatar and Philosophy - Learning to See

Discusses the philosophical issues that underlie the film, including religious environmentalism, empathy, and colonialism.

List of contents

Acknowledgments: I See These People viii
 
Introduction: Time to Wake Up 1
George A. Dunn
 
Part I Seeing Eywa: "I'm With Her, Jake. She's Real!" 5
 
1 The Silence of Our Mother: Eywa as the Voice of Feminine Care Ethics 7
George A. Dunn and Nicolas Michaud
 
2 "Eywa Will Provide": Pantheism, Christianity, and the Value of Nature 19
Jason T. Eberl
 
3 The Tantra of Avatar 36
Asra Q. Nomani
 
Part II Seeing the Na'vi: "You Will Teach Him Our Ways" 49
 
4 Learning to See the Na'vi 51
Stephanie Adair
 
5 It Doesn't Take an Avatar: How to Empathize with a Blue-Skinned Alien 62
Andrew Terjesen
 
6 "I See You" through a Glass Darkly: Avatar and the Limits of Empathy 74
Massimiliano Cappuccio
 
Part III Seeing Nature: "Try to See the Forest through Her Eyes" 87
 
7 Seeing the Na'vi Way: Respecting Life and Mind in All Organisms 89
Kyle Burchett
 
8 They're Not Just Goddamn Trees: Hegel's Philosophy of Nature and the Avatar of Spirit 104
James Lawler
 
9 "Everything Is Backwards Now": Avatar, Anthropocentrism, and Relational Reason 115
Jeremy David Bendik-Keymer
 
Part IV Seeing Our Bodies: "They've Got Great Muscle Tone" 125
 
10 The Identity of Avatars and Na'vi Wisdom 127
Kevin S. Decker
 
11 "I Got This": Disability, Stigma, and Jake Sully's Rejected Body 139
Ryan Smock
 
12 "See the World We Come From": Spiritual versus Technological Transcendence in Avatar 151
Dan Dinello
 
Part V Seeing Our Political Communities: "Sky People Cannot See" 165
 
13 "We Will Fight Terror with Terror": Avatar and Just War Theory 167
Joseph J. Foy
 
14 The Community and the Individual in Avatar 180
Dale Murray
 
15 Avatar and Colonialism 190
Nathan Eckstrand
 
Part VI Seeing Our Ethical Responsibilities: "Sometimes Your Entire Life Boils Down to One Insane Move" 201
 
16 "All That Cheddar": Lessons in Business Ethics from the RDA Corporation 203
Matthew Brophy
 
17 "We Have an Indigenous Population of Humanoids Called the Na'vi": Native American Philosophy in Avatar 215
Dennis Knepp
 
18 I See Animals: The Na'vi and Respect for Other Creatures 226
Wayne Yuen
 
Part VII Seeing the Movie: "You Are Not Gonna Believe Where I Am" 239
 
19 The Digital Cabinet of Curiosities: Avatar and the Phenomenology of 3D Worlds 241
Robert Furze and Pat Brereton
 
Notes on Contributors: Our Avatar Drivers 252
 
Index: My Last Video Log 258

Product details

• Authors: George A Dunn, George A. Dunn, George A. (University of Indianapolis Dunn, W Dunn
• Assisted by: Georg A Dunn (Editor), George A Dunn (Editor), George A Dunn (Editor), George A. Dunn (Editor), Irwin (Editor), Irwin (Editor), William Irwin (Editor), Irwin William (Editor of the series)
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 05.09.2014
• EAN: 9780470940310
• ISBN: 978-0-470-94031-0
• No. of pages: 272
• Series: The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series; Blackwell Philosophy & Pop Cul; The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series; Blackwell Philosophy and Pop C; Blackwell Philosophy & Pop Cul
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; Philosophie, Wissenschaft, Philosophy, Allg. Philosophie