What do you think?
Rate this book
Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture #32
Downton Abbey and Philosophy: The Truth Is Neither Here Nor There
A unique philosophical look at the hit television series Downton Abbey Who can resist the lure of Downton Abbey and the triumphs and travails of the Crawley family and its servants? We admire Bates's sense of honor, envy Carson's steadfastness, and thrill to Violet's caustic wit. Downton Abbey and Philosophy draws on some of history's most profound philosophical minds to delve deeply into the dilemmas that confront our favorite characters. Was Matthew right to push Mary away after his injury in the war? Would Lord Grantham have been justified in blocking Lady Sybil's marriage to Tom Branson? And is Thomas really such a bad person?
Offers fresh and intriguing insights into your favorite Downton Abbey characters, plot lines, and ideas Addresses many of your most pressing questions about Downton Abbey's story and characters, such Should Daisy have lied to William about her feelings toward him-especially to the point of marrying him? Should Mr. Bates have been upfront with Anna from the beginning about his past? Views Downton Abbey through the lens of some of the most influential philosophical thinkers, from Saint Augustine and David Hume to Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill Ventures upstairs and downstairs to examine key themes involving ethics, virtue, morality, class, feminism, the human condition, and more Philosophical speculation awaits on every page of this essential Downton Abbey companion. So take a seat in your personal library, have the butler pour a cup of tea, and start reading!
Offers fresh and intriguing insights into your favorite Downton Abbey characters, plot lines, and ideas Addresses many of your most pressing questions about Downton Abbey's story and characters, such Should Daisy have lied to William about her feelings toward him-especially to the point of marrying him? Should Mr. Bates have been upfront with Anna from the beginning about his past? Views Downton Abbey through the lens of some of the most influential philosophical thinkers, from Saint Augustine and David Hume to Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill Ventures upstairs and downstairs to examine key themes involving ethics, virtue, morality, class, feminism, the human condition, and more Philosophical speculation awaits on every page of this essential Downton Abbey companion. So take a seat in your personal library, have the butler pour a cup of tea, and start reading!
72 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 10, 2012
20 people are currently reading
221 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 7, 2013
What was here was fine, but not as meaty as some others in the series.
July 31, 2020
Random essays collected together under the Downton Abbey and Philosophy banner that shoe horn some of the main philosophical theories into the storylines of Downton. For me there wasn't enough detail and it felt that some of the storylines within the series were shoehorned into to further the point of the essay. The reason I am giving this book 3 stars was due to the fact that there were one of two essays that made good points and the examples given married up well. Didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I was going to.
May 10, 2020
I have been reading books from this series (Blackwell Pop Culture and Philosophy) for a number of years, but I have been perplexed about the best way to review them. To say that a book of essays, all written by different authors, vary in their effectiveness is pretty lazy and offers no idea about what a book has been about. To single out one essay for a negative reason feels like a misrepresentation of the other essays. A thorough account of all the essays would be too unwieldy, a cursory account of all the essays seems too dismissive. Listing those that I really enjoyed gives the impression that the essays that I recognized as well structured but simply not interested in were not given their due. In fact, trying to decide whether to include an essay into the named category became too intrusive a thought that hindered my enjoyment in reading them. Some people may relish being put into the position of a Caesar or a Mengele, giddy with having the power to separate others into the “saved” and “damned” categories with a hand gesture. I’m not like that. Then again, there is always the possibility that I am overthinking the whole endeavor. So here it goes.
There were several excellent essays in this volume:
“The Morality of Manners” by Kathleen Poorman Dougherty
“Keeping it Under Control” by Andrew P. Mills
“Lie is So Unmusical a Word” by Courtney Neal
“Downton Abbey as Eternal Recurrence” by Christopher Ketcham
“Justice in Love” by Adam Barkman and Noah Van Brend
Many of these essays did a good job of using the situations of the series in order to illustrate their points. For instance, in the essay “The Morality of Manners”, the author uses the example of Matthew Crawley’s initial resistance to having a butler. Instead of a typical American, egalitarian response, this essay seeks to shed light on the way in which the practice of manners can be viewed as a way to give proper respect to others, including those who hold a lower position such as a servant:
Upon explaining to Lord Grantham that he finds Molesley superfluous, Matthew obviously takes in very carefully Lord Grantham’s explanation that it would be unfair to deny Molesley his livelihood when he has done nothing wrong. Perhaps Matthew is moved by the comparison to his own mother’s satisfaction from her work or by the recognition that everyone has a part to play. Regardless of what motivates him, Matthew’s demeanor towards Molesley and the other staff shifts readily and noticeably, as he allows Molesley to take a much greater role in his dressing and shows a new respect for Molesley’s role.
In showing greater respect for the role of the servants, most notably Molesley, Matthew Crawley shows more respect for the individuals themselves. In learning to see Molesley as needing to feel that his career and position are valuable, Matthew learns to see Molesley’s need for life satisfaction in the same way he sees his own or his mother’s need to work and to feel useful. Matthew quickly learns that he underestimated the significance of the ways in which servants are perceived and the pride they take in their work. It is a marker of Matthew’s decency and good character that this recognition quickly carries over into a change in behavior. His manners and demeanor shift along with his understanding. Decorum becomes the outward sign of respect. (pg 91)
This view runs counter to how my own culture deals with how to act when there are differences in status. I grew up in the West, in which there was very little distinction ever made (and making such a distinction would be frowned upon) and where manners were often thought of as inauthentic and limiting. Then I moved to the South, and the culture here is very different and more akin to the British model: Everyone has a duty to project the ideal harmony and failure to comply is its own problem. This essay is a good illustration of these competing viewpoints that often go unexamined.
On another note, I know that in the past I have railed against the exposed quality of many of these essays. Instead of the author’s musings and meanderings that I have been accustomed to, these essays tend to show the predictable structures that I associate with student work. In other words, it’s possible to pick out the thesis, the topic sentences, and the conclusion with no difficulty. This used to bother me because I attributed it to laziness. However, I’ve lately come to appreciate this style. These are wonderful essays to introduce essay structure to high school and middle school students. Even at that age, they tend to reject templates as restrictive, but it’s hard to argue with the effectiveness of that approach when they can feel the effect themselves.
If I had one criticism to make of this book, it is that I thought there was a lot of focus on the aristocrats. One of the strengths of the television series is the wide net it casts. It seemed like too much emphasis was placed on the upstairs and that many of the points made were not really thoughtful about them. Many were just boilerplate opinions about the problems of having a class that was well-off.
All in all, this was a strong collection of essays that I would recommend!
There were several excellent essays in this volume:
“The Morality of Manners” by Kathleen Poorman Dougherty
“Keeping it Under Control” by Andrew P. Mills
“Lie is So Unmusical a Word” by Courtney Neal
“Downton Abbey as Eternal Recurrence” by Christopher Ketcham
“Justice in Love” by Adam Barkman and Noah Van Brend
Many of these essays did a good job of using the situations of the series in order to illustrate their points. For instance, in the essay “The Morality of Manners”, the author uses the example of Matthew Crawley’s initial resistance to having a butler. Instead of a typical American, egalitarian response, this essay seeks to shed light on the way in which the practice of manners can be viewed as a way to give proper respect to others, including those who hold a lower position such as a servant:
Upon explaining to Lord Grantham that he finds Molesley superfluous, Matthew obviously takes in very carefully Lord Grantham’s explanation that it would be unfair to deny Molesley his livelihood when he has done nothing wrong. Perhaps Matthew is moved by the comparison to his own mother’s satisfaction from her work or by the recognition that everyone has a part to play. Regardless of what motivates him, Matthew’s demeanor towards Molesley and the other staff shifts readily and noticeably, as he allows Molesley to take a much greater role in his dressing and shows a new respect for Molesley’s role.
In showing greater respect for the role of the servants, most notably Molesley, Matthew Crawley shows more respect for the individuals themselves. In learning to see Molesley as needing to feel that his career and position are valuable, Matthew learns to see Molesley’s need for life satisfaction in the same way he sees his own or his mother’s need to work and to feel useful. Matthew quickly learns that he underestimated the significance of the ways in which servants are perceived and the pride they take in their work. It is a marker of Matthew’s decency and good character that this recognition quickly carries over into a change in behavior. His manners and demeanor shift along with his understanding. Decorum becomes the outward sign of respect. (pg 91)
This view runs counter to how my own culture deals with how to act when there are differences in status. I grew up in the West, in which there was very little distinction ever made (and making such a distinction would be frowned upon) and where manners were often thought of as inauthentic and limiting. Then I moved to the South, and the culture here is very different and more akin to the British model: Everyone has a duty to project the ideal harmony and failure to comply is its own problem. This essay is a good illustration of these competing viewpoints that often go unexamined.
On another note, I know that in the past I have railed against the exposed quality of many of these essays. Instead of the author’s musings and meanderings that I have been accustomed to, these essays tend to show the predictable structures that I associate with student work. In other words, it’s possible to pick out the thesis, the topic sentences, and the conclusion with no difficulty. This used to bother me because I attributed it to laziness. However, I’ve lately come to appreciate this style. These are wonderful essays to introduce essay structure to high school and middle school students. Even at that age, they tend to reject templates as restrictive, but it’s hard to argue with the effectiveness of that approach when they can feel the effect themselves.
If I had one criticism to make of this book, it is that I thought there was a lot of focus on the aristocrats. One of the strengths of the television series is the wide net it casts. It seemed like too much emphasis was placed on the upstairs and that many of the points made were not really thoughtful about them. Many were just boilerplate opinions about the problems of having a class that was well-off.
All in all, this was a strong collection of essays that I would recommend!
September 17, 2022
Amusing philosophy
Downton Abbey does not normally conjure up images of philosophical contemplation so this brief book is a delight. Unlocking the moral questions behind drama, it nudges you to think embodying the paternalistic ethos of the show.
Downton Abbey does not normally conjure up images of philosophical contemplation so this brief book is a delight. Unlocking the moral questions behind drama, it nudges you to think embodying the paternalistic ethos of the show.
Read
February 1, 2023Whenever I am unwell I watch some Downton Abbey- real comfort telly. This was a nice companion to the first two series (these were the only episodes mentioned, presumably the book was written a while ago!). I particularly enjoyed the essay about lying in human society, and within the Abbey.
February 7, 2021
Popsugar 2021: A book about a social justice issue.
June 20, 2014
I have read (or tried to read) a number of the books in the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series and this was one of the most enjoyable. Part of the appeal of Downton Abbey is the complexity of the time and place the series is set during. Class and gender roles were shifting and events on the larger world stage were accelerating these changes. The essays in this volume explored some of the best plotlines and characters in the series and I really enjoyed the essays on Paternalism in the series as well as an exploration of the kinds of feminism portrayed. But the essay on the morality of lying may have been one of the best marriages of series and philosophy I’ve read in any book in this series. Great read and I appreciated that it was not quite so dense as some others (Harry Potter and the endless essay about the nature of the soul – I am looking at you).
October 20, 2012
While there are (a few) new and interesting insights produced in this book, motly it felt like reading papers for an undergraduate philosphy class. (Alright class, using one of the philosphers and philosphies studied, apply those ideas to an episode or character from Downton Abbey.). No single essay is long enough to provide detailed philosophical analysis, and none of the essays look at examples that might argue against their points. While the authors' do give an outline (very brief, very simplistic) of each philosphers' ideas in the essay, oftentimes they are too simplistic to fl.y explain the theories. Read this because you want to relive your favorite moments from the show, not for a primer ob philosophy.
May 3, 2012
A short, but very detailed look at the psychology and motivations of all the various characters in the series by a collection of writers who each take a couple. I found this to be a fascinating read, but it would be rather thick for the reader unfamiliar to philosophical terms. I do recommend that you've seen all of the series before reading this book, as there are spoilers, and the authors do refer to this or that episode or event. Otherwise, I found this to be very enjoyable, and just wished that there had been more of the book to enjoy -- it was only 70 pages on my Nook! Four stars overall.
August 4, 2014
Read my full thoughts over at Read.Write.Repeat.
It's nothing grandiose or groundbreaking, but it's worth an hour or two of your time to dive in a little deeper. After all, TV doesn't have to be mindless.
It's nothing grandiose or groundbreaking, but it's worth an hour or two of your time to dive in a little deeper. After all, TV doesn't have to be mindless.
February 7, 2017
Easy reading for DA fans. The book is not super deep, but there is some food for thought.
October 6, 2014
Interesting in parts, but a little dry ..
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews