Bioware & Voluntary Slavery
A recurring theme in Bioware’s Mass Effect and Dragon Age series is that slavery – while bad – can be justified if it’s chosen. Here we consider whether volunteering to be a slave makes a moral difference.
Steph Rennick
Steph is a philosopher and lecturer in interactive media at the University of Stirling, co-founder of the Video Game Dialogue Corpus and founder of the Epicurean Cure. Her research interests span metaphysics, epistemology, intersectional feminism, and game studies, but she’s best known for her work on time travel and video games, respectively.
Her latest projects concern the methodological usefulness of tropes: how understanding them can both improve games and shed light on our folk intuitions – i.e. our pre-theoretic, common sense
answers to philosophical questions. Ultimately, she hopes this will lead not only to more fruitful conceptual mapping and analysis, but also result in new stories to read and games to play.
Steph drinks too much tea, reads a lot, plays J/RPGs and speaks with an Australian accent. Treasured possessions include five different copies of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, a well-travelled Buffy boxset, and a variety of teapots.
You can find out more about her research and upcoming events at her website. She’s also on Twitter as the voice of the Epicurean Cure.
Gilderoy Lockhart: Attempted Murderer
Prolific author, repeated winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award, and inept teacher. Handsome but harmless? Quite the contrary!
2001: A Space Stoic
Stoicism is the beloved philosophy of emperors, slaves, and financial advisors. Here we consider one idea from stoic metaphysics – that the universe begins and ends in cycles, with us living our lives over and over – and its representation in the 2001 film K-Pax.
Gender-Inverted Trope: Philosopher Queens
In art, as in life, the trope of the philosopher usually depicts a male character, sage-like, with a tendency to impart useful information. In this short but sweet piece of pop(culture)corn, we highlight gender-inverted instances of the Philosopher and Philosopher King.
Mass Effect & the Problem of Other Minds
Given that I only have access to my own mind, is it rational to attribute minds and mental states to others? What if the others in question are drastically different to us – such as the aliens in Mass Effect? Here we introduce the problem of other minds and the argument from analogy.
Trope Alert: The Prison Level
In this short and tasty piece of Pop(Culture)Corn we introduce the Prison Level trope, with some of our favourite video game examples. Final Fantasy, Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls and more!
Peppa Pig & the Ontological Argument
Peppa Pig is not merely a morally questionable piece of entertainment for children; it’s ripe with unplucked philosophical fruit. In this article we consider the light it can shed on Anselm’s Ontological Argument for the existence of God.
The Turing Test (Part 1)
The Turing Test is a popular device in fiction, becoming an umbrella term for language-based tests to determine whether computers or other synthetic beings have minds. Here we explore the origins of the Turing Test and some examples of fictional machines that would pass it.
On Persistence & Memory
What makes you the same person from one day to the next? How can your favourite character survive a brain swap, teleportation, or shape-shifting? This article explores the Persistence Question, as it arises in your favourite fiction. But it isn't just a matter for philosophers or fiction: problems of personal identity have ramifications for your everyday life...
Trope Alert: The Supernatural Detective
Launching Pop(Culture)Corn: short and tasty morsels for your reading pleasure. In this instalment, we introduce the Supernatural Detective trope - not to be confused with the Occult Detective, the narrower Vampire Detective Series, or broader Exotic Detective - with some of our favourite examples.
Catherine Sangster, On Dictionaries, Pronunciation, and Geekery (Part 3)
Catherine Sangster - Head of Pronunciation at Oxford Dictionaries - joins The Doctor for a three-part chat on lexicography, pronunciation, tropes, and all things geeky. In this final instalment, we discuss how dictionaries can be subversive, the connection between academia and fandom, and texts that do interesting things with language.
Catherine Sangster, On Dictionaries, Pronunciation, and Geekery (Part 2)
Catherine Sangster - Head of Pronunciation at Oxford Dictionaries - joins The Doctor for a three-part chat on lexicography, pronunciation, tropes, and all things geeky. In Part 2 we discuss some of the technical details regarding pronunciation, dictionaries, and descriptivism v prescriptivism.
Catherine Sangster, On Dictionaries, Pronunciation, and Geekery (Part 1)
Catherine Sangster - Head of Pronunciation at Oxford Dictionaries - joins The Doctor for a three-part chat on lexicography, pronunciation, tropes, and all things geeky. In Part 1 we discuss how words from geekdom find their way into dictionaries, pronunciation, and the significance of accents.
Sherlocked in Samarra
Sherlock's back and so are we, discussing fate, death, and a very important appointment in Samarra.
Royal Shakespeare Company, Cymbeline
The Doctor doesn't write reviews, or read non-fiction. Neither of these is strictly true. Thus, Cymbeline (a not-review).
Schrödinger’s Hippogriff (Part 2)
This series looks at three famous paradoxes from the philosophy of time travel, as exemplified in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Part 2 introduces the Grandfather Paradox, and more generally, the problem of changing the past.
Adrian Tchaikovsky, On Tropes, Writing, & Children of Time
Adrian Tchaikovsky - acclaimed British fantasy and sci-fi author - chats with The Doctor about tropes, genre, and the nitty gritty of his Arthur C. Clarke-winning Children of Time. Insightful and informative for both fans and newcomers alike.
Halloween Art Contest: Dress Up Tetra!
The Epicurean Cure is hosting its first annual Dress-Up-Tetra Art Contest! Show off your artistic talent by depicting - in whichever medium you choose, from the digital to your childhood crayons - the EC's octopus mascot in a tropey outfit for Halloween.
Nor Have I Yet Outrun the Sun (Part 1)
This series looks at three famous paradoxes from the philosophy of time travel, as exemplified in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Part 1 serves as an introduction to the puzzles and the plot that brought them to life.
Introducing the 'F' Word (Part 1)
If someone knows our future, can we still be free? This first instalment concentrates on the difference between it being true that you will perform a given action, and it being necessary, drawing on examples from the Matrix and Harry Potter.
Greetings, lovelies!
Welcome to the Epicurean Cure! Here we celebrate thinking – rigorously, critically, and enthusiastically – about and through the texts we love: from literature to video games, films, comics, poetry, television, and everything in between. Our goal here is to bring together academics and the creators and consumers of pop culture, to engage in dialogue […]