“True Blood and Philosophy” {Review}

Title: True Blood and Philosophy: We Wanna Think Bad Things with You (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series)

Editor: William Irwin, George A. Dunn and Rebecca Housel
ISBN: 978-0470597729
Publisher: Wiley, John & Sons, Incorporated
Genre: Philosophy & Linguistics
Published: June 1, 2010
Length: 256 pages
Price: $17.95
Paperback

About the Book:

Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, fairies, telepaths — True Blood has it all. In a world where supernatural creatures coexist with human beings, Sookie Stackhouse and Bill Compton wrestle with powerful desires while facing complex issues concerning sex, romance, bigotry, violence, death, and immortality. Now True Blood and Philosophy calls on the minds of some of history’s great thinkers to perform some philosophical bloodletting on this thought-provoking series. From the metaphysics of mind reading to Maryann Forrester’s cult of Dionysus, from vampire politics to the nature of personal identity, and from contemporary feminism to the rights of nonhuman species, True Blood and Philosophy mines the thinking of philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Nietzsche, and John Rawls to enlighten us on the intriguing themes that surround this supernatural world. You’ll find no shortage of juicy metaphysical morsels to sink your teeth into!

My Review:
“True Blood and Philosophy: We Wanna Think Bad Things with You” is a philosophical look at the cultural implications within the world of the HBO series True Blood. As it is not likely that the issues presented by the presence of vampires in our human society will actually become a problem for the world any time soon, this book shows the reader the parallels between the True Blood world and our own. The same issues that the vampires in True Blood experience (racism, hypocrisy, the fight for equality)  have been seen throughout history by any number of minorities. Women, Homosexuals and almost every race at some time or another has fought the “norms” of society to include them and afford them the basic rights given to everyone else.

“True Blood and Philosophy: We Wanna Think Bad Things with You” is a book that any intellectual can enjoy…assuming they also have a bit of imagination and don’t mind being compared to vampires in one way or another. So, sink your teeth in.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from FSB Media for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”