Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up?

Popular Culture and Philosophy #33

by Josef Steiff (Editor), Tristan D. Tamplin (Editor)

In attempting to retain her "human" side, does Sharon really have free will? Is killing a Cylon murder or garbage disposal? These are some of the questions addressed in this thoughtful collection of writings on the philosophical underpinnings of Battlestar, Galactica. The book includes a brief analysis of the original 1970s and 80s series but concentrates primarily on the episodes, characters, and issues from the entirely reimagined current series (including its fourth and final season, scheduled for airing in early 2008) as well as the two-hour TV movie and direct-to-DVD release Razor.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

452 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2008

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been getting a number of the Popular Culture and Philosophy books. I haven't really studied classical philosophy. I didn't take a basic Philosophy class in college.

So, seeing different philosophies shown through the prism of another subject I really like has been really interesting. There's no central theme to the book. You don't get a progressive look at different philosophies over time as illustrated by BSG. What you get is a series of essays grouped broadly into different topics that examine different philosophies through BSG. The approach here is fairly in-depth and the essays are well-written and thought provoking. There were a number of times that I found myself wanting to engage in a dialog with an essayist. Sometimes to dispute a point about the show or the application of a certain philosophical point to the show. Other times, it was just wishing for more explanation or clarification of a point that was confusing or fuzzy to me. But the main point is that the essays do make you think actively about the essayist's position or thoughts. That made the book a worthwhile book to read for me.

[Ivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm biased because I wrote two of the essays in this book.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's lots of interesting viewpoints presented here, but the book loses points for some seriously sloppy copyediting. There are duplicated sentences, missing commas, and even characters names spelled wrong. I know things slip through the cracks sometimes, but it got to a point that I could no longer ignore it.

I also wish it had been compiled after the new series was finished, it only goes through season three, but a some of the arguments presented necessarily change with information presented in the final season. Not all of them, obviously, but I still think a complete view of the series would inform many of the articles more fully.

[Soozums · Rating 4 out of 5]

because i'm that much of a nerd

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's often great chapters in these "[Insert topic here] and Philosophy" books, but they generally are pretty mixed bags. Sometimes they're weighted more toward the good quality. This one, not so much. There are some chapters that are definitely worth reading, including the opening chapter written by Daniel Milsky, but then there's some chapters that just don't really seem worth it.

[Cara Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://genusshrike.dreamwidth.org/193...

[Katya S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very hit and miss with some of the articles and Ideas presented. Fun read for the most part

[Ed Maldonado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written n thought provoking