Twilight and Philosophy

With thanks to Darlyn at Darlyn and Books I won an eBook of Twilight and Philosophy by Rebecca Housel and Jeremy Wisnewski.

Twilight and Philosophy: Vampires, Vegetarians, and the Pursuit of Immortality edited by Rebecca Housel and Jeremy Wisnewski.

Won in a blog giveaway.

*** "Interesting."

This book is part of the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, which includes South Park and Philosophy, Lost and Philosophy, and House and Philosophy. The contributing writers are mainly Philosophy teaching staff at universities. Consequently, this book is an examination of some of the big philosophical questions seen through the lense of the Twilight saga books.

I did not receive any "blurb" with my eBook of Twilight and Philosophy, so I came with my own expectations of what it would be about and what it would be like. I had never heard of the Blackwell series, and so thought of this book as a kind of "companion piece" to the Twilight books. I was very wrong.

Although there is plenty in this book to delight Twilight fans, it is by no means a light, fluffy take on the philosophy of the books. Instead, it investigates issues such as the ethics of vegetarianism, the definition of a person (what makes us human), and the question of theodicy (why God, if he exists, does not eliminate evil from the world). See - not exactly light and fluffy!

Now I'm the type of reader who would pick up a book about philosophy. Something billed as "a beginner's guide to the philosophy of feminism, Taoism, and the nature of space and time" would be of interest to me. And that's exactly what Twilight and Philosophy is - an accessible look into some of the problems that philosophers wrestle with.

I found this book interesting, and recommend it to readers wanting a primer on philosophy. I don't recommend that you read it just on the strength of the word Twilight in the title!