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<p>FOREWORD by <i>Elio M. Garcia and Linda Antonsson</i> ix</p> <p>A RAVE N FROM HOUSE WI LEY: Editor’s Note on Spoilers xiii</p> <p>ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: How I Was Spared from Having to Take the Black xv</p> <p>Introduction: So What if Winter Is Coming? 1<br /><i>Henry Jacoby</i></p> <p><b>PART ONE “YOU WIN OR YOU DIE”</b></p> <p>1 Maester Hobbes Goes to King’s Landing 5<br /><i>Greg Littmann</i></p> <p>2 It Is a Great Crime to Lie to a King 19<br /><i>Don Fallis</i></p> <p>3 Playing the Game of Thrones: Some Lessons from Machiavelli 33<br /><i>Marcus Schulzke</i></p> <p>4 The War in Westeros and Just War Theory 49<br /><i>Richard H. Corrigan</i></p> <p><b>PART TWO “THE THINGS I DO FOR LOVE”</b></p> <p>5 Winter Is Coming!: The Bleak Quest for Happiness in Westeros 63<br /><i>Eric J. Silverman</i></p> <p>6 The Death of Lord Stark: The Perils of Idealism 75<br /><i>David Hahn</i></p> <p>7 Lord Eddard Stark, Queen Cersei Lannister: Moral Judgments from Different Perspectives 87<br /><i>Albert J. J. Anglberger and Alexander Hieke</i></p> <p>8 It Would Be a Mercy: Choosing Life or Death in Westeros and Beyond the Narrow Sea 99<br /><i>Matthew Tedesco</i></p> <p><b>PART THREE “WINTER IS COMING”</b></p> <p>9 Wargs, Wights, and Wolves That Are Dire: Mind and Metaphysics, Westeros Style 115<br /><i>Henry Jacoby</i></p> <p>10 Magic, Science, and Metaphysics in A Game of Thrones 129<br /><i>Edward Cox</i></p> <p>11 “You Know Nothing, Jon Snow”: Epistemic Humility Beyond the Wall 142<br /><i>Abraham P. Schwab</i></p> <p>12 “Why Is the World So Full of Injustice?”: Gods and the Problem of Evil 154<br /><i>Jaron Daniël Schoone</i></p> <p><b>PART FOUR “THE MAN WHO PASSES THE SENTENCE SHOULD SWING THE SWORD”</b></p> <p>13 Why Should Joffrey Be Moral If He Has Already Won the Game of Thrones? 169<br /><i>Daniel Haas</i></p> <p>14 The Moral Luck of Tyrion Lannister 183<br /><i>Christopher Robichaud</i></p> <p>15 Dany’s Encounter with the Wild: Cultural Relativism in A Game of Thrones 194<br /><i>Katherine Tullman</i></p> <p>16 “There Are No True Knights”: The Injustice of Chivalry 205<br /><i>Stacey Goguen</i></p> <p><b>PART FIVE “STICK THEM WITH THE POINTY END”</b></p> <p>17 Fate, Freedom, and Authenticity in A Game of Thrones 223<br /><i>Michael J. Sigrist</i></p> <p>18 No One Dances the Water Dance 236<br /><i>Henry Jacoby</i></p> <p>19 The Things I Do For Love: Sex, Lies, and Game Theory 250<br /><i>R. Shannon Duval</i></p> <p>20 Stop the Madness!: Knowledge, Power, and Insanity in A Song of Ice and Fire 264<br /><i>Chad William Timm</i></p> <p>CONTRIBUTORS: The Learned Lords and Ladies from beyond the Seven Kingdoms 279</p> <p>INDEX: From the Archives at Oldtown 287</p>

<p><b>HENRY JACOBY</b> teaches philosophy at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He is the editor of <i>House and Philosophy</i> and a contributor to <i>South Park and Philosophy</i>. <p><b>WILLIAM IRWIN</b> is a professor of philosophy at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling <i>The Simpsons and Philosophy</i> and has overseen recent titles including <i>Inception and Philosophy</i>, <i>Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy</i>, and <i>Mad Men and Philosophy</i>.

<p><b>Are honor and virtue necessary for happiness, or do they get in the way?</b> <p><b>Can wargs, direwolves, and other magical beings reveal truths about consciousness and our own reality?</b> <p><b>Does prophecy show that we are mere pawns of destiny, or are we free to live authentic lives?</b> <p>If ever a story was ripe for philosophical analysis, George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire<i></i> series is. In Westeros and beyond the Narrow Sea, Martin's fantasy world is filled with dozens of complex characters in conflict with themselves and others, facing self-doubt, moral hazard, deception, uncertainty, hubris, and social and political unrest. While the Seven Kingdoms have been plunged into war, beyond the Wall, the horrors of winter are coming. And far away, a young queen wrestles with her destiny as she journeys to reclaim her home. This insightful guide draws on the works of Machiavelli, Hobbes, Descartes, Augustine, Plato, Aristotle, and many other great philosophers to analyze key characters and plotlines while exploring themes of war, honor, knowledge, morality, gender politics, and more.

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