Product Description

The first look at the philosophy behind Stephenie Meyer's bestselling Twilight series

Bella and Edward, and their family and friends, have faced countless dangers and philosophical dilemmas in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight novels. This book is the first to explore them, drawing on the wisdom of philosophical heavyweights to answer essential questions such as: What do the struggles of "vegetarian" vampires who control their biological urge for human blood say about free will? Are vampires morally absolved if they kill only animals and not people? From a feminist perspective, is Edward a romantic hero or is he just a stalker? Is Jacob "better" for Bella than Edward?

As absorbing as the Meyer novels themselves, Twilight and Philosophy:

• Gives you a new perspective on Twilight characters, storylines, and themes
• Helps you gain fresh insights into the Twilight novels and movies
• Features an irresistible combination of vampires, romance, and philosophy

Twilight and Philosophy is a must-have companion for every Twilight fan, whether you're new to the series or have followed it since the beginning.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5520 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780470484234
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Back Cover
What can vampires tell us about the meaning of life?

Is Edward a romantic hero or a dangerous stalker?

Is Bella a feminist? Is Stephenie Meyer?

How does Stephenie Meyer's Mormonism fit into the fantastical world of Twilight?

Is Jacob "better" for Bella than Edward?

The answers to these philosophical questions and more can be found inside Twilight and Philosophy: Vampires, Vegetarians, and the Pursuit of Immortality. With everything from Taoism to mind reading to the place of God in a world of vampires, this book offers some very tasty philosophy for both the living and the undead to sink their teeth into. Whether you're on Team Edward or Team Jacob, whether you loved or hated Breaking Dawn, this book is for you!

About the Author
Rebecca Housel coedited X-Men and Philosophy. A former professor of English and popular culture in western New York, she now serves on editorial advisory boards for the Journal of Popular Culture and the Journal of American Culture. Also an author of middle-grade fiction, she is currently working on a new young adult novel.

J. Jeremy Wisnewski is an assistant professor of philosophy at Hartwick College, the coeditor of X-Men and Philosophy, and the editor of Family Guy and Philosophy and The Office and Philosophy.

William Irwin is a professor of philosophy at King's College. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles, including Batman and Philosophy, House and Philosophy, and Watchmen and Philosophy.

Customer Reviews

Uneven, flawed but worth a read
As a fan of 'Twilight' and of Blackwell's 'Pop Culture and Philosophy' series, I decided to give this volume a try. My review of the book: not as good as the others. While not actively bad nor mediocre, 'Twilight and philosophy' is much more uneven than other books in the series. Some of the essays are perceptive, in depth discussions, others are rambling, incoherent polemics. One of the things that I like about volumes in the Blackwell series is that the authors clearly love the pop culture subject that they are discussing, but I see no such enthusiasm here. Some of the authors appear to be fans, but a couple of the authors can barely keep their contempt for both their subject matter and their readers in check. The undercurrent through these essays is pretty clear: Twilight is stupid; people who read it are stupid; this is why they are stupid, and this is what we need to do to reprogram them so that they become less stupid. They are entitled to their opinions, but why should I pony up $18 to be told I'm stupid? I can get that from a message board for free.

Some of the gems in the collection:

'The Tao of Jacob': talks about Jacob Black and the way of the werewolf from the Taoist perspective. Fascinating, lovingly crafted, and contains some beautiful prose. The philosophical implications are studied in depth, the author clearly knows the books and the essay is plain fun to read

'Carlisle: more compassionate than a speeding bullet': I did not approach this one with high hopes. I thought the title was silly and had no idea what the author was aiming for. The Terjesens surprised me; this is actually a good character study on Carlisle, the way of life that Carlisle represents and what this means (both in the series and to the reader)

'Undead Patriarchy and the possibility of love': studies the relationship between Edward and Bella in depth and raises questions about the nature of love, the nature of feminism and the meaning of 'equal relationships'. Considers both sides of the issues, but manages to make its case without being shrill.

The bombs:
'Edward Cullen and Bella Swan: byronic and feminist heroes...or not': The short answer is no, Bella sucks (no pun intended), Edward sucks more (pun intended) and 'Jane Eyre' is a better book so you're dumb for reading 'Twilight' instead of 'Jane Eyre'. That's Abigail Myers' contribution in a nutshell, and I wish that I could say that her essay is more in depth than that, but it's not. Remember how I said that some of the authors clearly don't like their subject? This would be one of them.

'Bella Swan and Sarah Palin': The hypothesis of this essay is already pretty strange: women like Bella Swan and they like Sarah Palin and here are the reasons why. Sounds like it belongs on a post with a 'mood of the day' emoticon. Unfortunately, unlike the Terjensens, Naomi Zack never transcends her silly title. Her work is rambling and unfocused, lurching from one point to another, throwing out 50 cent words and other philosophers along the way as if she's hoping that if she sounds smart enough, readers will fail to notice what a shallow piece she's written. She talks a great deal more about Sarah Palin than she does about Bella Swan, never really manages to tie Palin to 'Twilight' beyond the idea that Bella, like Palin is an anti-feminist wish fulfillment model, and caps off the hot mess with a truly bizarre polemic against religious parents and consumerist society, advocating for other "intellectual feminists" to maintain "doctrinal purity" by reprogramming the poor 'Twilight'/Palin brainwashed sheep. I'd be worried about the elitist (self-confessed, no less), bigoted tone of this piece, except few readers are likely to slog through more than 3 paragraphs and will therefore miss her freaky manifesto at the end. I wish that I'd been so lucky.

The rest of the essays are good or average. Worth a look, but I'd buy it on sale or check it out from a library.

Definitely worth reading if you're a fan
The twilight and philosophy book takes twilight and examines some of the fundamental elements of the series including the vampires powers, Edward, Jacob, and Bella; through the different aspects of not only ancient philosophy but also recent philosophy. It also looks at some of the things that clearly influenced Meyer when she was writing, especially her religion.

This book definitely needs to be approached with an open mind, and even though you may not agree with everything, each chapter sets out not to preach the author's point of view, but simply to open your mind to different interpretations and dimensions of the series.

This book uses twilight as an avenue to allow people to understand basic principles of philosophy in a fun and interesting way. It focuses on what we can learn from the series, it's strengths, and it's weaknesses. I would definitely recommend it to fans of the series, not only as an interesting read, but also for the critical thinking skills it teaches.

Nice Insights Except for the Vegetarian Essays
This thought-provoking book of philosophical essays indeed cast new light upon my favorite YA series. Aside from what I consider digressive essays on vegetarianism, each essay's thesis is worth thoughtful consideration, whether one agrees or not with the argument. The essays are rather graphic regarding abusive relationships. The intended audience is teens & adults. Consider pre-reading this book before handing it to a young or an immature teen.