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<p>Contibutors xi</p> <p>The <i>Black Mirror </i>Multiverse: An Editor’s Note xxiii</p> <p><b>Introduction 1</b></p> <p><i>Black Mirror</i>: What Science Fiction Does Best 3<br /><i>David Kyle Johnson, with Leander P. Marquez, and Sergio Urueña</i></p> <p><b>Season 1 9</b></p> <p>1 <i>The National Anthem </i>and Weighing Moral Obligations: Is It Ever OK to F*ck a Pig? 11<br /><i>Brian J. Collins with Brandon Boesch</i></p> <p>2 <i>Fifteen Million Merits </i>and Fighting Capitalism: How Can We Resist? 20<br /><i>Chris Byron with Matthew Brake</i></p> <p>3 <i>The Entire History of You </i>and Knowing Too Much: Should You Want the Grain? 29<br /><i>Gregor Balke and Bart Engelen</i></p> <p><b>Season 2 39</b></p> <p>4 <i>Be Right Back </i>and Rejecting Tragedy: Would You Bring Back Your Deceased Loved One? 41<br /><i>Bradley Richards</i></p> <p>5 <i>White Bear </i>and Criminal Punishment: How Far is too Far? 50<br /><i>Sid Simpson with Chris Lay</i></p> <p>6 <i>The Waldo Moment </i>and Political Discourse: What’s Wrong with Disrespect in Politics? 59<br /><i>Greg Littmann</i></p> <p><b>The Christmas Special 69</b></p> <p>7 <i>White Christmas </i>and Technological Restraining Orders: Are Digital Blocks Ethical? 71<br /><i>Cansu Canca and Laura Haaber Ihle</i></p> <p><b>Season 3 81</b></p> <p>8 <i>Nosedive </i>and the Anxieties of Social Media: Is the Future Already Here? 83<br /><i>Sergio Urueña and Nonna Melikyan</i></p> <p>9 <i>Playtest </i>and the Power of Virtual Reality: Are Our Fears Real? 92<br /><i>Claire Benn</i></p> <p>10 <i>Shut Up and Dance </i>and Vigilante Justice: Should We Ever Take the Law into Our Own Hands? 101<br /><i>Juliele Maria Sievers and Luiz Henrique da Silva Santos</i></p> <p>11 <i>San Junipero </i>and the Digital Afterlife: Could Heaven be a Place on Earth? 109<br /><i>James Cook</i></p> <p>12 <i>Men Against Fire </i>and Political Manipulation: How Are We Tricked into Dehumanizing Others? 118<br /><i>Bertha Alvarez Manninen</i></p> <p>13 <i>Hated in the Nation </i>and #DeathTo: What are the Consequences of Trial by Twitter? 128<br /><i>Aline Maya</i></p> <p><b>Season 4 141</b></p> <p>14 <i>USS Callister </i>and Non‐Player Characters: How Should We Act in Video Games? 143<br /><i>Russ Hamer with Steven Gubka</i></p> <p>15 <i>Arkangel </i>and Parental Surveillance: What are a Parent’s Obligations? 151<br /><i>Catherine Villanueva Gardner with Alexander Christian</i></p> <p>16 <i>Crocodile </i>and the Ethics of Self Preservation: How Far is Too Far? 160<br /><i>Darci Doll</i></p> <p>17 <i>Hang the DJ </i>and Digital Dating: Should We Use Computers to Help Us Find Mates? 168<br /><i>Skye C. Cleary and Massimo Pigliucci</i></p> <p>18 <i>Metalhead </i>and Technophobia: How Dangerous Will Robots Be? 177<br /><i>Scott Midson with Justin Donhauser</i></p> <p>19 <i>Black Museum </i>and Righting Wrongs: Should We Seek Revenge? 187<br /><i>Gregory L. Bock, Jeffrey L. Bock, and Kora Smith</i></p> <p><b>Bandersnatch 197</b></p> <p>20 <i>Bandersnatch: </i>A Choose‐Your‐Own Philosophical Adventure 199<br /><i>Chris Lay and David Kyle Johnson</i></p> <p><b>Season 5 239</b></p> <p>21 <i>Striking Vipers </i>and Closed Doors: How Meaningful Are Sexual Fantasies? 241<br /><i>Darren M. Slade</i></p> <p>22 <i>Smithereens </i>and the Economy of Attention: Are We All Dopamine Addicts? 251<br /><i>Pierluca D’Amato</i></p> <p>23 Empathy, Emulation and Ashley Too: Can a Robot Be a Friend? 260<br /><i>George A. Dunn</i></p> <p><b><i>Black Mirror </i>Reflections 271</b></p> <p>24 Consciousness Technology in <i>Black Mirror</i>: Do Cookies Feel Pain? 273<br /><i>David Gamez with David Kyle Johnson</i></p> <p>25 Personal Identity in <i>Black Mirror</i>: Is Your Cookie You? 282<br /><i>Molly Gardner and Robert Sloane</i></p> <p>26 Death in <i>Black Mirror</i>: How Should We Deal with Our Mortality? 292<br /><i>Edwardo Pérez and Sergio Genovesi</i></p> <p>27 Love in <i>Black Mirror</i>: Who Do We Really Love? 301<br /><i>Robert Grant Price</i></p> <p>28 Perception in <i>Black Mirror</i>: Who Controls What You See? 311<br /><i>Brian Stiltner and Anna Vaughn</i></p> <p>29 The Dangers of Technology in <i>Black Mirror</i>: A Dialogue between Uploaded Dead Philosophers 320<br /><i>Ben Springett with Luiz Adriano Borges</i></p> <p><b>Conclusion 333</b></p> <p>30 Black Mirror in the Future: Will We Still be Watching? 335<br /><i>Geoffrey A. Mitelman</i></p> <p>Appendix: How to Use This Book in the Classroom 338</p> <p>Index 340</p>

<p><b>DAVID KYLE JOHNSON</b> is Professor of Philosophy at King's College in Pennsylvania. He is the editor of four books on popular culture and philosophy, including <i>Inception and Philosophy</i> (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 <i>Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy.</i>

<p><b>PHILOSOPHY/POP CULTURE</b> <p>What dangers does the rapid advancement of technology pose? <p>Have we given social media too much power over our lives? <p>Could heaven really, one day, be a place on Earth? <p>Should criminal justice and punishment be crowdsourced? <p>What rights should a "cookie" have? <p>The future is bright—or is it? In the dystopian near-future of the Emmy-winning sci-fi television series <i>Black Mirror</i>—where consciousness can be incarcerated in circuitry, social media metrics determine class status, and the dead can be robotically or digitally reanimated—it is all too easy to fall victim to the dangers of a technologically-driven world and its ever-evolving forms of social control. From surveilled minds to violated memories, Charlie Brooker's high-concept anthology series takes an incisive look at the darkest reflections of the human condition in digital technology through sharply allegorical tales that tap into our collective techno-paranoia with remarkable acuity. <p><i>Black Mirror and Philosophy</i> unravels the philosophical threads woven throughout the show's futurist premises, including questions about artificial intelligence, virtual reality, surveillance, privacy, love, death, criminal behavior, and politics. Original essays written by a diverse group of scholars invite you to peer into the void and explore the ethical, political, and existential dimensions of Brooker's sinister stories (and hunt for some Easter eggs in the process). The collection pairs a chapter with each episode in <i>Black Mirror's</i> five seasons—including an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure analysis of <i>Bandersnatch—</i>and concludes with general essays that examine the series' broad themes. <p>Immersive, engaging, and experimental, <i>Black Mirror and Philosophy</i> navigates the intellectual landscape of Brooker's morality plays for the modern world, where humanity's greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide.

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