More Doctor Who and Philosophy: Regeneration Time

Courtland Lewis, Paula Smithka

Open Court, Oct 15, 2015 - Philosophy - 288 pages

More Doctor Who and Philosophy is a completely new collection of chapters, additional to Doctor Who and Philosophy (2010) by the same editors. Since that first Doctor Who and Philosophy, much has happened in the Whoniverse: a new and controversial regeneration of the Doctor, multiple new companions, a few creepy new enemies of both the Doctor and planet Earth. And the show’s fiftieth anniversary! We’ve learned some astounding new things from the ever-developing story: that the Doctor’s number one rule is to lie, that he claims to have forgotten his role in the mass extermination of the Time Lords and the Daleks, that the Daleks do have a concept of divine beauty (divine hatred, of course), and that Daleks may become insane (didn’t we assume they already were?)
Oh, and the cult of the Doctor keeps growing worldwide, with more cultish fans in the US, more and bigger Who conventions, more viewers of all ages, and more serious treatment by scholars from many disciplines. New questions have been raised and new questioners have come along, so there are plenty of new topics for philosophical scrutiny. Is the “impossible” girl really impossible? Is there anything wrong with an inter-species lesbian relationship (the kids weren’t quite ready for that in 1963, but no one blinks an eye in 2015)? Can it really be right for the Doctor to lie and to selectively forget? We even have two authors who have figured out how to build a TARDIS—instructions included! (Wait, there’s a catch, no . . . ?) And then there’s that old question that just won’t go away: why does the Doctor always regenerate as a male, and is that ever going to change? An added feature of this awesome new volume is that the editors have reached out to insiders of Who fandom, people who run hugely successful Who conventions, play in Who-inspired bands, and run wildly popular podcasts and websites, to share their privileged insights into why the Doctor is so philosophically deep.
No more spoilers. It’s time for the truly thoughtful travelers in both time and space to rev up the TARDIS once more. . . . Allons-y, Alonzo!

Contents

• The Real NeverEnding Story R Alan Siler Time Lord Presiding: 1
• Magnetic North: 3
• 1 A Good Man Goes to War Deborah Pless: 11
• 2 How Time Lords Invented TV Colin Dray: 21
• 3 The Mystical Alchemy of Midnight Katherine Sas: 33
• 4 How Possible Is the Impossible GIrl? Donna Marie Smith: 45
• 5 Every Lonely Monster Needs a Companion Christopher Gadsden: 55
• MindBending ImpossibilityShattering Jammie Dodgers Dr Scott Viguie aka Doctoer Geek Time Lord Presiding: 65
• Youre Fantastic: 67
• 6 Weeping Angels and Many Worlds Peter A Sutton: 69
• 7 What the Doctor Can and Cant Change Audrey Delamont: 77
• 8 Could the Doctor Have Avoided Trenzalore? Massimo Pigliucci: 87
• 9 How the Doctor Knows Paula Smithka: 97
• 10 One Good Solid Hopethe Impossible Girl Charlene Elsby and Rob Luzecky: 109
• 11 What the Souffle Girl Could Teach Descartes Hjordis BeckerLindenthal: 119
• 12 How to Build a TARDIS Doctor Benjamin K Tippett and Doctor David Tsang: 129
• Values in the Time Vortex Ken Spivey Time Lord Presiding: 149
• The Doctor Who Masculine ROmantic Ideal: 151
• 13 Should the Doctor Eat His Companions? Greg Littmann: 155
• 14 The Doctors Desire for Human Suffering Angel M Cooper: 167
• 15 The Way of the Doctor Is Deception Michael Dodge: 177
• 16 Divine HatredDalek Beauty Cole Bowman: 187
• 17 The Friends of a Time Lord Greg Littmann: 199
• 18 Sex for Dummies Humans and Time Lords Courtland Lewis: 213
• 19 The Doctor Is a WoMan Nathan Kellen: 225
• Gallifrey Falls No More Martin Stone Hennessee Time Lord Presiding: 233
• Terrifying and Mad and Bloody Brilliant: 235
• 20 The Doctor Lies Kevin McCain: 239
• 21 Forgetting Is the Human Superpower Jessica Seymour: 249
• 22 The Mnemotechnics of Amy Pond AG Holdier: 259
• 23 Failing and Forgiving in the Name of the Doctor Matthew A Hoffman: 269
• 24 Whos Duty to Whom? Paul Dawson: 279
• 25 Meeting Up with Yourself JJ Sylvia IV and Heath Stevens: 291
• 26 Time Lords Are Us Stephen Felder: 301
• More Matrix of TimeLord Bibliographic Sources: 313
• The Second Great Gallifreyan High Council: 321
• HigherOrder Logical Index for the Cyberman and Dalek in All of Us: 329

About the author

Paula Smithka: Paula Smithka is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She is the co-editor of Community, Diversity, and Difference: Implications for Peace.
Courtland Lewis: Is Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham and co-editor of Doctor Who and Philosophy

Bibliographic information

• Title: More Doctor Who and Philosophy: Regeneration Time; Volume 93 of Popular Culture and Philosophy
• Editors: Courtland Lewis, Paula Smithka
• Publisher: Open Court, 2015
• ISBN: 0812699092, 9780812699098
• Length: 288 pages
• Subjects: Philosophy / Essays