A philosophical look at the twisted, high-tech near-future of the sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror, offering a glimpse of the darkest reflections of the human condition in digital technology
Black Mirror―the Emmy-winning Netflix series that holds up a dark, digital mirror of speculative technologies to modern society—shows us a high-tech world where it is all too easy to fall victim to ever-evolving forms of social control.
In Black Mirror and Philosophy, original essays written by a diverse group of scholars invite you to peer into the void and explore the philosophical, ethical, and existential dimensions of Charlie Brooker’s sinister stories. The collection reflects Black Mirror’s anthology structure by pairing a chapter with every episode in the show’s five seasons—including an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure analysis of Bandersnatch—and concludes with general essays that explore the series’ broader themes. Chapters address questions about artificial intelligence, virtual reality, surveillance, privacy, love, death, criminal behavior, and politics, including:
Have we given social media too much power over our lives? Could heaven really, one day, be a place on Earth? Should criminal justice and punishment be crowdsourced? What rights should a “cookie” have?
Immersive, engaging, and experimental, Black Mirror and Philosophy navigates the intellectual landscape of Brooker’s morality plays for the modern world, where humanity’s greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide.
Contibutors xi The Black Mirror Multiverse: An Editor’s Note xxiii Introduction 1 Black Mirror: What Science Fiction Does Best 3 David Kyle Johnson, with Leander P. Marquez, and Sergio Urueña Season 1 9 1 The National Anthem and Weighing Moral Obligations: Is It Ever OK to F*ck a Pig? 11 Brian J. Collins with Brandon Boesch 2 Fifteen Million Merits and Fighting Capitalism: How Can We Resist? 20 Chris Byron with Matthew Brake 3 The Entire History of You and Knowing Too Much: Should You Want the Grain? 29 Gregor Balke and Bart Engelen Season 2 39 4 Be Right Back and Rejecting Tragedy: Would You Bring Back Your Deceased Loved One? 41 Bradley Richards 5 White Bear and Criminal Punishment: How Far is too Far? 50 Sid Simpson with Chris Lay 6 The Waldo Moment and Political Discourse: What’s Wrong with Disrespect in Politics? 59 Greg Littmann The Christmas Special 69 7 White Christmas and Technological Restraining Orders: Are Digital Blocks Ethical? 71 Cansu Canca and Laura Haaber Ihle Season 3 81 8 Nosedive and the Anxieties of Social Media: Is the Future Already Here? 83 Sergio Urueña and Nonna Melikyan 9 Playtest and the Power of Virtual Reality: Are Our Fears Real? 92 Claire Benn 10 Shut Up and Dance and Vigilante Justice: Should We Ever Take the Law into Our Own Hands? 101 Juliele Maria Sievers and Luiz Henrique da Silva Santos 11 San Junipero and the Digital Afterlife: Could Heaven be a Place on Earth? 109 James Cook 12 Men Against Fire and Political Manipulation: How Are We Tricked into Dehumanizing Others? 118 Bertha Alvarez Manninen 13 Hated in the Nation and #DeathTo: What are the Consequences of Trial by Twitter? 128 Aline Maya Season 4 141 14 USS Callister and Non‐Player Characters: How Should We Act in Video Games? 143 Russ Hamer with Steven Gubka 15 Arkangel and Parental Surveillance: What are a Parent’s Obligations? 151 Catherine Villanueva Gardner with Alexander Christian 16 Crocodile and the Ethics of Self Preservation: How Far is Too Far? 160 Darci Doll 17 Hang the DJ and Digital Dating: Should We Use Computers to Help Us Find Mates? 168 Skye C. Cleary and Massimo Pigliucci 18 Metalhead and Technophobia: How Dangerous Will Robots Be? 177 Scott Midson with Justin Donhauser 19 Black Museum and Righting Wrongs: Should We Seek Revenge? 187 Gregory L. Bock, Jeffrey L. Bock, and Kora Smith Bandersnatch 197 20 Bandersnatch: A Choose‐Your‐Own Philosophical Adventure 199 Chris Lay and David Kyle Johnson Season 5 239 21 Striking Vipers and Closed Doors: How Meaningful Are Sexual Fantasies? 241 Darren M. Slade 22 Smithereens and the Economy of Attention: Are We All Dopamine Addicts? 251 Pierluca D’Amato 23 Empathy, Emulation and Ashley Too: Can a Robot Be a Friend? 260 George A. Dunn Black Mirror Reflections 271 24 Consciousness Technology in Black Mirror: Do Cookies Feel Pain? 273 David Gamez with David Kyle Johnson 25 Personal Identity in Black Mirror: Is Your Cookie You? 282 Molly Gardner and Robert Sloane 26 Death in Black Mirror: How Should We Deal with Our Mortality? 292 Edwardo Pérez and Sergio Genovesi 27 Love in Black Mirror: Who Do We Really Love? 301 Robert Grant Price 28 Perception in Black Mirror: Who Controls What You See? 311 Brian Stiltner and Anna Vaughn 29 The Dangers of Technology in Black Mirror: A Dialogue between Uploaded Dead Philosophers 320 Ben Springett with Luiz Adriano Borges Conclusion 333 30 Black Mirror in the Future: Will We Still be Watching? 335 Geoffrey A. Mitelman Appendix: How to Use This Book in the Classroom 338 Index 340
DAVID KYLE JOHNSON is Professor of Philosophy at King's College in Pennsylvania. He is the editor of four books on popular culture and philosophy, including Inception and Philosophy (Wiley Blackwell, 2011), and has written over 20 articles for academic books and journals. He also produces lecture series for The Teaching Company's The Great Courses, including Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy.
