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List of contents
Introduction: Charlie Brooker’s Artistic Vision
Kingsley Marshall (Falmouth University, UK) & James Rocha (California State University: Fresno, USA)
Section One: Is Black Mirror Philosophy?
Chapter One: Through a Screen Darkly: Black Mirror, Thought Experiments, and Televisual Philosophy
Robert Sinnerbrink, Macquarie University, Australia
Chapter Two: Black Mirror as Philosophizing About Immortality, Technology and Human Nature
Lorraine Yeung, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, and Kong-Ngai Pei, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
Chapter Three: Technology in Pastel Colors: An Alternative Take on Black Mirror
Laura di Summa, William Paterson University, USA
Chapter Four: The Virtue of Forgetting in Nietzsche’s Philosophy and Black Mirror
Daniel Shaw, Emeritus Professor Lock Haven University, USA
Section Two: Versions of the Self in Black Mirror
Chapter Five: Free Will in ‘Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’
Sander Lee, Keene State College, USA
Chapter Six: ‘White Christmas’: Technologies of the Self in the Digital Age
Diana Stypinska, Liverpool Hope University, U.K. and Andrea Rossi, Koç University (Istanbul), Turkey
Chapter Seven: You Were Never Really Here: Representations of Artificial Intelligence in Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror
Kingsley Marshall, Falmouth University, UK
Section Three: Black Mirror and Relating to Others
Chapter Eight: ‘Crocodile’ Going Too Far: Philosophical Reflections on Human Nature and Moral Character
Clara Nisley, Oglethorpe University, USA
Chapter Nine: Rats, Roaches, and Rapists: ‘Men Against Fire’ and the Propagation of Propaganda
Leigh Rich, Georgia Southern University, USA
Chapter Ten: “Between Delight and Discomfort”: The Act of Mirroring in the Age of Black Mirror
Shai Biderman, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Chapter Eleven: The You They Love: Patriarchal Feminism and Ashley Too
Mona Rocha and James Rocha, California State University: Fresno, USA
Conclusion
James Rocha (California State University: Fresno, USA) & Kingsley Marshall (Falmouth University, UK)
About the author
Dan Shaw is Professor of Philosophy and Film at Lock Haven University, USA.
Daniel Shaw is Professor in the Department of Communication and Philosophy, Lock Haven University, USA.
Kingsley Marshall is Head of Film & Television at the CILECT accredited School of Film & Television, and a member of the project team at the Sound/Image Cinema Lab, both based at Falmouth University, UK.
James Rocha is Associate Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Fresno, USA.
Summary
Black Mirror is a cultural phenomenon. It is a creative and sometimes shocking examination of modern society and the improbable consequences of technological progress. The episodes - typically set in an alternative present, or the near future - usually have a dark and satirical twist that provokes intense question both of the self and society at large. These kind of philosophical provocations are at the very heart of the show. Philosophical reflections on Black Mirror draws upon thinkers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Pierre Hadot and Michel Foucault to uncover how Black Mirror acts as ‘philosophical television’ questioning human morality and humanity’s vulnerability when faced with the inexorable advance of technology.
Foreword
An edited collection on specific episodes of Black Mirror and the worldview conveyed by the series.
Additional text
Black Mirror is a series that looks at society through the lens of science fiction, and these stories emotionally affect the audience when they can relate to them in a human way. The best episodes of Black Mirror draw from a fertile ground of ideas already in the ether, and are there to leave us feeling uncomfortable and thinking a little bit harder about the way we live, how we live, and the way we communicate. That’s the place where drama crosses with philosophy.
