philosophy
Significant mentions of philosophical concepts, and/or philosophers
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Severance S1E1: “Good News About Hell” — Other People Is You!
The following contains spoilers for Severance S1E1, “Good News About Hell” (written by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller) Severance opens with Helly (Britt Lower) lying on a conference table, but of course we don’t know that her name is Helly yet. That’s OK, though, because neither does she. A disembodied voice through an […] More
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What’s in a Name? References in Lost to Real World Figures
One of the most striking things about Lost has always been the sheer number of character names that seem to allude to real world people throughout history. There are so many, in fact, that I’m prone to wonder whether perhaps some of them are incidental. I don’t quite think there are, but I’m also not […] More
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Doctor Who: “Heaven Sent” and the Eternal Loop of Mourning
Let’s forget about the surrounding circumstances of “Heaven Sent” for a moment—not what precedes it (Clara’s death) of course, one could never forget that—but the broader stakes of what is going on in Doctor Who: all of the things having to do with Gallifrey and the Hybrid and all that. Perhaps you don’t remember, and […] More
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in Episodes
Room 104 S4E9 Recap and Analysis: “The Last Man”
If you’ve just finished Room 104 S4E9 “The Last Man” (directed by Julian Wass and written by Mark Duplass) you may find yourself wondering what in the hell you just watched. It’s a strange episode, experimental even by the standards of this show, and I honestly found myself wondering how many people might have turned […] More
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in Episodes
Room 104 S4E8 Recap and Analysis: “No Dice”
Room 104 S4E8 “No Dice” (written by Julian Wass and directed by Patrick Brice) gives us the story of an older woman named Enid (Linda Lavin) who is obsessed with game show host Chip Crawford (Gary Cole). This type of parasocial interaction is not uncommon, even if most of us don’t engage in it to […] More
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in Videogames
On the Winds of Fate: The Legend of Zelda, Determinism and Free Will
“This is but one of the legends of which the people speak…” -The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Prologue) In the Spring of 2003, 12 year-old me turned on his Nintendo GameCube to play The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for the very first time. From the moment I saw the gorgeous cel-shaded […] More
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in Videogames
Sobbing With Sobble in Pokemon Sword and Shield
With Pokémon Sword and Shield coming out in a little less than a month, the hype cannot be more real. Game Freak, Inc.—the developer, for those uninitiated—has been noticeably more tight-lipped when it comes to information this time around as compared to previous games, and one could argue that it’s made the anticipation way stronger […] More
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A King-Sized Death Wish: Rorschach’s Existentialism
In Alan Moore’s Watchmen, Walter Kovacs, AKA Rorschach, is a character considered by a lot of readers to be a deontologist—and no, this is not some kind of creepy doctor. A deontologist is someone who believes that the morality of actions should be based on whether they are right or wrong according to whatever specific set […] More
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in Series
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Rei and Kaworu
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20 “This is the self that can be seen, and […] More
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in Series
We Can be Angels (Just for One Day)? — On Part 2 of The OA and Possible Worlds
Long before the Many Worlds hypothesis sprung up in response to quantum mechanics, Gottfried Leibniz imagined God choosing between an infinite number of possible worlds. After all, every choice at every moment represents a point of possible bifurcation. So there’s a possible world where I did not just decide to start writing this essay; one […] More
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Perfect Pilots: The Leftovers “Pilot”
While there are many great shows out there, only a few of them have a perfect beginning—the kind that draws you in immediately and leaves you wanting more. In 25YL’s Perfect Pilots series, we will be looking at pilot episodes we think are flawless. This week Caemeron Crain looks at the pilot of The Leftovers. […] More
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in Episodes
The Romanoffs: The One That Holds Everything
Our coverage of the 8-part Amazon Prime series The Romanoffs from Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner concludes with Caemeron Crain and Lindsay Stamhuis’s final roundtable for the eighth episode, “The One That Holds Everything” Authors’ Note: This episode features a significant storyline centered on a transgender character both before and after her transition. We have endeavoured to be careful with […] More
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