Black Mirror and Philosophy: Dark Reflections (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series)

A philosophical look at the twisted, high-tech near-future of the sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror , offering a glimpse of the darkest reflections of the human condition in digital technology Black Mirror ―the Emmy-winning Netflix series that holds up a dark, digital mirror of speculative technologies to modern society―shows us a high-tech world where it is all too easy to fall victim to ever-evolving forms of social control.In Black Mirror and Philosophy , original essays written by a diverse group of scholars invite you to peer into the void and explore the philosophical, ethical, and existential dimensions of Charlie Brooker’s sinister stories. The collection reflects Black Mirror ’s anthology structure by pairing a chapter with every episode in the show’s five seasons―including an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure analysis of Bandersnatch ―and concludes with general essays that explore the series’ broader themes. Chapters address questions about artificial intelligence, virtual reality, surveillance, privacy, love, death, criminal behavior, and politics, including: Have we given social media too much power over our lives? Could heaven really, one day, be a place on Earth? Should criminal justice and punishment be crowdsourced? What rights should a “cookie” have? Immersive, engaging, and experimental, Black Mirror and Philosophy navigates the intellectual landscape of Brooker’s morality plays for the modern world, where humanity’s greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide.

A philosophical look at the twisted, high-tech near-future of the sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror, offering a glimpse of the darkest reflections of the human condition in digital technology

Black Mirror―the Emmy-winning Netflix series that holds up a dark, digital mirror of speculative technologies to modern society--shows us a high-tech world where it is all too easy to fall victim to ever-evolving forms of social control.In Black Mirror and Philosophy, original essays written by a diverse group of scholars invite you to peer into the void and explore the philosophical, ethical, and existential dimensions of Charlie Brooker’s sinister stories. The collection reflects Black Mirror’s anthology structure by pairing a chapter with every episode in the show’s five seasons--including an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure analysis of Bandersnatch--and concludes with general essays that explore the series’ broader themes. Chapters address questions about artificial intelligence, virtual reality, surveillance, privacy, love, death, criminal behavior, and politics, including:

• Have we given social media too much power over our lives?
• Could heaven really, one day, be a place on Earth?
• Should criminal justice and punishment be crowdsourced?
• What rights should a “cookie” have?

Immersive, engaging, and experimental, Black Mirror and Philosophy navigates the intellectual landscape of Brooker’s morality plays for the modern world, where humanity’s greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide.

"Territory. Unlike other television shows about technology and future dystopias, Black Mirror taps in to something eerily familiar to our everyday world, and has proved prescient on more than one occasion. The writing talent on the show demonstrates a proven pedigree of handling high-complexity subjects for popular audiences--Charlie Brooker, who is an award-winning newspaper columnist as well as a scriptwriter, has important things to say about how technology shapes the universe of human discourse and action, including how it institutes new, more effective, and ever-more-pleasing forms of social control. The show has a rich basis for philosophical exploration, with the following mainstream media articles revealing only the tip of the iceberg"-- Provided by publisher