LEGO and Philosophy: Constructing Reality Brick By Brick (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series)

How profound is a little plastic building block? It turns out the answer is “very”! 22 chapters explore philosophy through the world of LEGO which encompasses the iconic brick itself as well as the animated televisions shows, feature films, a vibrant adult fan base with over a dozen yearly conventions, an educational robotics program, an award winning series of videogames, hundreds of books, magazines, and comics, a team-building workshop program for businesses and much, much more. Dives into the many philosophical ideas raised by LEGO bricks and the global multimedia phenomenon they have created Tackles metaphysical, logical, moral, and conceptual issues in a series of fascinating and stimulating essays Introduces key areas of philosophy through topics such as creativity and play, conformity and autonomy, consumption and culture, authenticity and identity, architecture, mathematics, intellectual property, business and environmental ethics Written by a global group of esteemed philosophers and LEGO fans A lively philosophical discussion of bricks, minifigures, and the LEGO world that will appeal to LEGO fans and armchair philosophers alike LEGO® AND PHILOSOPHY Contents Notes on Contributors Introduction Part I LEGO® and Creativity 1 Constructing Creativity Originality and Creativity Madmen, Oddballs, and Visionaries Resolving the Paradox Notes 2 Building Blocks of Thought LEGO as a Thing You Think With Philosophy as Serious Play LEGO and Forms of Play LEGO as a Metaphor for Philosophy Notes 3 LEGO® Formalism in Architecture Three Scenarios LEGO and Formalism Contextualism, Functional Beauty, and LEGO Other LEGO Worlds and the Real World Notes 4 “That Was My Idea!” Avoiding Mistaken Identity Defending Your Rights Does Matter Matter? A Formative Account A Tale of Two Time Machines? History Matters! Notes Part II LEGO®, Ethics, and Rules 5 “You Know the Rules!” Whats Wrong with The Man Upstairs? “All of This That You See Before You is All Your Fathers” “Lets Take Extra Care to Follow the Instructions” “You Know the Rules!” “First Law of the Sea: Never Place Yer Rear End on a Pirates Face” “Instructions to Fit In, Have Everybody Like You, and Always Be Happy” “Thats a Suggestion!” “Would You Like to Make an Appointment, or Shall I Summon the Micromanagers?” Notes 6 Searching for “The Special” “Youre Not The Special!”: President Businesss Theory of Extrinsic Value Emmets Vacillating Value Intrinsic Value and Emmets Enlightenment “You Still Can Change Everything”: The Implications of Emmets Belief in Intrinsic Value Notes 7 LEGO® and the Social Blocks of Autonomy What Is Autonomy? Emmet Wyldstyle Becoming The Special, “Everything is Awesome” Notes 8 Building and Dwelling with Heidegger and LEGO® Toys Emmet as Existentialist: No More Mr. Conformist Moods and Play Engaged Play with Modular Bricks “Its a New Toy Everyday” Serious Play as Art: The Saving Power in LEGO-building Dwelling and Building with LEGO Notes Part III LEGO® and Identity 9 Ninjas, Kobe Bryant, and Yellow Plastic Wheres Lando? The Building Bricks of Race Kobe Bryant, Ninjas, and Race Race in The LEGO Movie Notes 10 Girl, LEGO® Friends is not your Friend! Does LEGO® Construct Gender Stereotypes? Girls Best Friends or Worst Toy of the Year? LEGO Friends’ Friendly Sexism Is LEGO Playing with Stereotypes? Let the Friends Go to Space! How to Build a More Diverse World with Bricks Notes 11 Representation in Plastic and Marketing “Explore the World and Beyond!” Girls Toys, Boys Toys: The Gendered Bias One Small Step for LEGO, One Giant Leap for Women in Science? Challenging the Representation of Women in Science: One Brick at a Time Notes 12 Real Signature Figures Laying the Foundation Gathering the Right Pieces My Own Creation Over Time The Signature Figure of Philosophy Putting It All Together Notes Part IV LEGO®, Consumption, and Culture 13 LEGO® Values A Problem: The Greenpeace Video Everything is Not Awesome? A Philosophical Assessment of LEGO LEGO, Politics, and Values Notes 14 Small Farms, Big Ideas What Can We Learn from a LEGO Farmer? LEGO Farm Animals What Else Is Misleading about LEGO Farm? Lets Piece Together the Truth Notes 15 The Reality of LEGO® The Basics of Baudrillard Stage 1: Basic Bricks Represent Reality Stage 2: Conflict Play and Masking Stage 3: Sky-fi and the Absence of Reality Stage 4: ApocaLEGO and Self-Simulation Notes 16 The American Archipelago Miniland America as Fan Developed Theme(park) America in Miniature: LEGOLAND California Rebuilding America: LEGOLAND Florida Diorama Americana Notes Part V LEGO®, Metaphysics, and Math 17 The Brick, the Plate, and the Uncarved Block Its an Invitation, not a Toy “Its Super Serious, Right, Babe?” “Actually its a Highly Sophisticated Interlocking Brick System” “No Government, No Babysitters ... and Theres Also No Consistency” “They're Expecting Us to Show Up in a Bat-Spaceship” “Everything Is Awesome!” Notes 18 LEGO®, Impermanence, and Buddhism What Is Impermanence? Benefits of an Impermanent Mindset Aggregates of Impermanence The LEGOs of Impermanence Notes 19 LEGO® and the Building Blocks of Metaphysics The Metaphysics of LEGO LEGO Bricks and Fundamental Properties Counting Worlds LEGO Worlds, Change, and Causation Notes 20 What Can You Build? Modal Epistemology Imagination Revisited Working Knowledge Beyond Working Knowledge Purism Notes 21 Playing with LEGO® and Proving Theorems Plato against the Geometers Proofs and the Logical Structuring of Mathsy Stuff Follow the Instructions! The Geometers Strike Back Notes Glossary Index EULA "...Written by a group of esteemed philosophers and LEGO fans, LEGO and philosophy dives into the many philosophical ideas raised by the world of LEGO, not least of which is exploring what lies at the hear of what makes LEGO so special....through twenty-two fascinating and stimulating chapters the book explores metaphysical, logical, moral, and conceptual issues. It introduces readers to key areas of philosophy through topics such as creativity and play, conformity and autonomy, consumption and culture, authenticity and identity, architecture, mathematics, business and environmental ehtics."--Page [4] of cover