Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale: Amazon.ca: James B. South, William Irwin: Books

Product Description

Designed by writer Joss Whedon as a multilevel story with most of its meanings deeply buried in heaps of heavy irony, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has replaced the "X-Files" as the show that explains to Americans the nature of the powerful forces of evil continually threatening to surge into a world of everyday decency. This collection features 23 essays by young professional philosophers that examine crucial ethical and metaphysical aspects of the "Buffyverse" (the world of Buffy). In the tradition of the classic horror films, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" addresses ethical issues that have long fascinated audiences. This book finds the ethical and metaphysical lessons from a pop-culture phenomenon. Using the insights of such philosophers as Plato, Aristotle, Nietzche and Kant, the authors provide and entertaining introduction to the field. The book also contains a programme episode guide, a biography of contributors and an index.

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First Sentence
First, this project could not have come about without the enthusiastic participation of the contributors. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
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Average Customer Review

4.0 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So much fun!!, May 13 2004

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Breezie "bleach226" (Ventura, California, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale (Paperback)

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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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Teachers should recommend this book for class, Jan 28 2004

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Gwendolyn A. Toffling "Compulsive Reader" (Phila., PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale (Paperback)

I took Philosphy in my first semmester of college, and I didn't do to well. After I started reading this book, I began to understand Plato, Kant, and other philospohers better. If my teacher had recommended this book I may have gotten higher than a C.
This book takes themes from the show: Faith's downfall, feminisim, education, violence, etc. and explains the themes through philosphy. I love BTVS and this book gave me a different way to watch the show. I definately recommend this book to anyone who is currently taking philosphy or will take a class or has. It helps the reader get through a subject that may not be very clear on its own.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good collection of essays on a great show, Jan 10 2004

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Richard Wright (Louisville, KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale (Paperback)

I thought this was a fun collection of essays. I majored in philosophy as an undergraduate, so it was fun to read about a lot of people I read in college in the context of Buffy.

I will say the title is a little misleding. I took an entire course on Existentialism, and was anxious to see what they said about Buffy and Kierkegaard, since the title refers to Kierkegaard's FEAR AND TREMBLING. I assumed someone might talk about Angel and Kierkegaard's ethical stage, since at one point he writes that the ethical can sorrow over sin, but cannot resolve it, which sounds to me a lot like Angel.

Still, a provocative collection.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, though some of the essays are a stretch
I really enjoyed reading essays that brought the perspective of philosophy to bear on my favorite TV show. Read more

Published on Dec 10 2003 by buffyboy

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid book of Buffy essays....
One of the great strengths about this book is that the essays contained in it are fairly short. This way, you can read them slowly, and not feel overwhelmed by the high academia... Read more