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Product Description
How can Buffy’s religious symbolism be squared with creator Joss Whedon’s professed atheism? Is Buffy truly a Kierkegaardian knight of faith? Do Faith’s corruption and return to the good life demonstrate Platonic eudaimonism? Or do they illustrate the flaws in Nietzsche’s superman concept? What does the show’s treatment of vampires, demons, and other entities say about ethical attitudes toward nonhumans? These are some of the questions asked and answered in this lively collection of essays that link classical philosophy to the long-running series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy’s status as the leading vehicle for exploring the evil underlying everyday life has made it ripe for the kind of witty, penetrating philosophical analysis this book delivers -- fully disintering the intellectual issues that underlie this cult favorite.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Very insightful book., 2008-01-10
I read this book and feel more into love with the series and world than before because of all the levels that were created and meaning behind everything. Some of the meanings were clear and some were a little harder to see. I recommend this to anyone who is into Buffy or Angel.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Not too bad - If you're a fan and even a little bit interested in Philosophy and Ethics it's worth reading. , 2007-03-31
I found this book helpful in doing an Ethics class. Some of the chapters helped me understand what my text book couldn't -- the situations were all familiar and I love Buffy.
The reason I gave it 3-4 stars is because the writing is not consistently great, but it was interesting reading.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Thoughtful and accessible., 2006-02-24
I picked up this book for a friend who is a Buffy fanatic, and read it myself, converting me into a fanatic, as well. Taking the seminal television series, and applying some of the classic philosophers' take on the world -- Aristotle, Plato, Kant, Nietzsche (though, the author UTTERLY distorts and misapprehends Nietzsche's philosophy), Hume -- this collection of essays demonstrates just how many layers upon which Buffy the Vampire Slayer was constructed. It also provides a decent primer for the works of some of Western thoughts' most notable philosophers (but see my caveat re Nietzsche), bringing to life the abstract concepts in the guise of a very entertaining television series. Add to that, clever writing by a group of essayists who obviously love the show, and it is a very amusing and informative read, and, arguably, one of the best to take on the series.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Jhaeman's Review, 2005-12-23
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE AND PHILOSOPHY: FEAR AND TREMBLING IN SUNNYDALE
James B. South, editor (2003)
RATING: 3/5 Stakes
BACK-OF-THE-BOOK SUMMARY: "So, if you're kind of killing time between apocalypses or just wondering about that meaning of life thing, here's some readage . . . Look, these guys'll I-think-therefore-I-am you into the freakin' ground. And the happy is better than shoe shopping. What? If I don't consult the oracle I'll, like, turn to stone? Well, yeah, if not already."
REVIEW
Buffy's entry into Open Court's "Popular Culture and Philosophy" line takes the form of a collection of short essays written by junior academics in fields such as women's studies, philosophy, and sociology. The essays are roughly grouped by subject: feminism, knowledge/science, ethics, religion/politics, and miscellaneous. Each is written with reference to the first six seasons of Buffy, with Season Seven unfortunately taking place after final deadlines for the writers.
Most of the essays are accessible, though they tend to expect the reader to have a basic understanding of long-standing philosophical concepts such as the difference between utilitarian and deontological theories of justice. On the whole, I find the essays largely mundane and forgettable, obviously written by huge fans of the show using Buffy to embody a particular academic issue they're currently working on.
However, there are a couple of stand-out articles, such as Neal King's "Brownskirts: Facisim, Christianity, and the Eternal Demon" and Michael P. Levine and Steven Jay Schneider's "Feel for Buffy: The Girl Next Door." The first is a fascinating essay on Buffy as a fascist hero, while the second doesn't fall into the hagiography trap and is willing to both criticize the show and the cult of frequently simple-minded scholarship that has grown up around it.
I don't think Buffy and Philosophy will prove particularly interesting to the average fan of the show (whether or not philosophically inclined), and is probably best browsed before purchase.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
 So much fun!!, 2004-05-14
This book is amazing and covers a wide range of topics. It's highly academic and well-respected in the academic community. It was a good lead in as far as asking my professors if I could incorporate Buffy into my papers. Hehe. I found that it also made some things much clearer, by putting it in the light of my favorite television show. I particularly liked the comparison of Faith to Nietzsche and the incorporation of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason and relating that to "Out of Mind, Out of Sight." It brought Kant's view into a new perspective, rather than trying to understand specifically with Kant's text and just accepting what he said as his view, it made his view make sense. I really do recommend it for any fan of Buffy in general(although it may seem tough at first, it was for me) or a philosophy fan. (I also found that it heavily related to my Conscience and Literature class)
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