In our final episode of the Game of Thrones Philosophy Breakdown, we are joined by friends to reflect on the philosophy and meaning from the entire series.  Our guests are Charles Pustejovsky, Cameron Sorsby, Madison Kanna, Grant Parker, and Amanda Kingsmith. They share how they got hooked on GoT, favorite characters and philosophical insight, and recommendations for managing your GoT withdrawals. 

Game of Thrones Philosophy Breakdown

Reflecting and Wrapping Up Game of Thrones

The end is here and this week we are breaking down the final episode of Game of Thrones.   What led Dany astray? What is the best way to move forward when your enemies are defeated? What does the ending show about G.R.R.M.’s life philosophy and a lot more! - Recapping the episode and sharing our first impressions on the finale of Game of Thrones. - What spin-offs would we love to see? - The dangers of idealism, empowering politicians/leaders, and optimizing for one metric - Is the new government any better? - What comes after you save the world? - What Arya and Jon’s ending can teach us about the meaning of life? - The difference between honor and reputation - What does the ending of the show tell us about G.R.R.M.’s life philosophy?

The End

Dany's broken bad and King's Landing has fallen and we're here to break it all down on this weeks GoT Philosophy Breakdown.    In this episode:  Checking in with listener answers to the question of if Dany burning down Kings Landing would make her worse than Cersei.  Recapping the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, The Bells.  Varys decision to betray Dany and his death sentence.  Jon's decision to tell Arya and Sansa about his true identity and then not telling Dany that he did it.  Mercy as a strength Should we have known that Dany would make an evil decision?  Jamie and Cersei's end 

Turning to The Dark Side

Only two episodes left, so there are a lot of moving pieces in episode four of season eight and a lot of philosophy topics to breakdown.    We cover everything from the best ways to mourn the dead, the loyalty you owe to your family, what truly makes a tyrant and everything treason.    The question we're asking for next week is, if Dany does go ahead and kill thousands to remove Cersei from power, does that make her just as bad or worse than Cersei and why?    In this episode:    Answers to our question from last week, "Is there such a thing as a noble or good death?"  Recapping and reacting to what went down in the fourth episode of season 8 of Game of Thrones  What is the right way to act after someone's death? Do you owe a debt to the dead? Where should your loyalty lie, with your family or a lover?  Is removing tyrants no matter the cost evil?  Is Varys right to plot against Dany?  Davos pushing back against Stanis vs. Varys plotting against Dany Rational choice theory and Treason  

Mourning the Dead and Talkin' Treason

It's Battle of Winterfell time, and we're breaking it all down on this weeks episode of the philosophy breakdown. In this episode: - Recapping the epic battle of Winterfell - Checking in with listener answers to our question from last week, what would you do on the last night before the battle of Winterfell? - Appreciating the spectacle and resisting the urge to critique every small detail - Our first reactions to seeing the end of the episode - Philosophy of embracing or rejecting mistakes from our past - How our currents goals and values impact our past and our views of the world - What does it mean to have a good death? - The Stoic idea of a noble death - Dying with your boots on - The cost of war

Noble Death and The Battle of Winterfell

This week we are breaking down A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the second episode of season 8, and the primer for the epic battle of Winterfell.    In this episode:  Recapping the episode Looking back on our predictions about what Jon should do with the knowledge of who he is Sharing some of the best answers from Reddit on what Jon Should do  Ser Brianne and the philosophy of titles  Learning about the Night King's motivation and what evil truly is  Is the point Sam makes during the battle counsel about memory being the key to humanity true?  What is the best way to spend your last day on earth   

S8:E2 The Night King and Philosophy of Evil

In this episode, we are breaking down the first episode of season 8, Winterfell.    We cover what happened, the great reunions, free rider problems, oath-breaking, and what Jon (or Aegon) should do now that he knows his true identity.    Topics Discussed:  Recapping what happened in the first episode of season eight  Our first impressions of the episodes  The power dynamics now that everyone is back in Winterfell and Jon has bent the knee and is it better to have one strong leader?  17:30 - The free rider problem and the contributions normal people are making to the war effort. Is it right to seize food and resources from the citizens of the North?  How reputation and honor help solve the free rider problem  30:00 - The Glover's not joining and the breakdown of trust, oaths, and responsibility in Westeros 37:00 - Is the Glover's decision to not join the war effort justifiable because Jon bent the knee?  43:00 - Oops, I killed your family - Do you have a responsibility to deliver bad news to the people you work with?  51:00 - The difference in Dany and Jon's approaches to power. Does Dany's ease of taking on power make her a better leader?  54:00 - The difference between being indecisive and being reluctant to take on power Does Jon have an obligation to claim the throne?    What do you think Jon should do now that he knows who he is? Let us know on twitter @jameslwalpole and @r_ferg

S8:E1 What Should Jon Do Now?

Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back!!    Winter is here, season 8 is here, and the Game of Thrones Philosophy Breakdown is here to help you dissect the philosophy in this final season of our favorite show.    Last season we covered everything from faith vs. skepticism to redemption, honesty, legacy, restorative vs. punitive justice, sociopathy, how politics shapes ethics, death, immortality, mind-control, omniscience, weapons of mass destruction, representation in politics, oaths, nationalism, loyalty, and history and this season will give us even more philosophical meat to chew on.   In this primer episode, we are talking out expectations for the upcoming season and making our predictions for who will live and who will rule after season 8.   New episodes will be out on Wednesdays each week following the new GoT episodes!   In this episode: What we covered last season  What we're looking forward to in season 8  Your favorite characters becoming white walkers  What the finale of GoT means for storytelling  The power and rarity of being able to share a story with millions of other people at the same time    

Winter Is Here | What To Expect in The Final Season

Diplomacy, killing to save lives, redemption, and much more on this episode breaking down the philosophy in season 7 episode 7 of Game of Thrones.

Episode 7

White Walker Dragon!!!!!  Plus is teaming up with evil to stop super evil wrong? What does it mean to die? Is death really the enemy? And more on this episode breaking down season 7 episode 6 of game of Thrones. 

Episode 6

Philosophy breakdown of Season 7 Episode 5 of Game of Thrones.

Episode 5

Breaking down the philosophy for Season 7 Episode 4. 

Episode 4

In this breakdown of “The Queen’s Justice,” we get together LIVE AND IN PERSON to record our thoughts on the ethics of Olenna’s revenge, the ethics of Cersei’s revenge, and wow, there’s a lot of revenge going on this season, isn’t there? We also dig into some really interesting ideas in the realm of political and legal ethics that are just as practical in our world as in Dragon-Direwolf-Incest Land (my pet name for Westeros): What justifies faith in someone’s testimony? What does skepticism look like in Westerosi culture? And what can myths teach us – even when they’re not strictly true? – Daenarys and Jon  Is asking “who is innocent/guilty” the wrong question? Why restorative justice instead of punitive justice? How would restorative justice work in the world of Westeros? When does restoration + making the right decision become impossible? And what are the philosophical limits of justice? – Cersei and Ellaria Sand  How does political power shape a culture and its ethics? Is the pursuit of power ethically responsible for parents? And to what extent is political power truly based on the will of the people? What role does memory play in preventing the immoral use of power? – Cersei, Jaime, Euron, and Westeros What is the right way to respond to the suffering of your enemies? Is vengeance really a good way to go? And what effect does keeping secrets and revealing secrets have on the human psyche? – Jaime and Olenna 

Episode 3

When should you betray someone? Should you keep ALL your oaths? And is cowardice really unvirtuous if it saves your life and the lives of others? And now, with Jon Snow and Daenarys Targaryen meeting up and the Night King moving further south, our favorite HBO show is bringing whole worlds together. The stakes are higher than ever for the show’s characters and for the decisions they make. In the second episode we talk about some of the many philosophical decisions in Game of Thrones Season 7, Episode 2: “Stormborn”: When is it right to betray someone? Is Varys morally admirable? Is he really serving the greater good? – Varys and Daenarys  How do leaders use in-group bias (nationalism, etc) to maintain and gain power? How do you know when in-group bias blinds you to in-group evil? –Cersei and the Lords of the Reach  When is it appropriate to make and break oaths? When do covenants become null and void? – the Tarlys, the Tyrells, and Jaime Is it ever acceptable to harm innocents in warfare? Is it better to be feared or loved in leadership? – Tyrion, Daenarys, and Olenna  How should we think about the virtue of courage against the vice of cowardice? Would Theon have been virtuous to attack Euron? – Theon and Euron 

Episode 2

Is it ever OK to slaughter your family’s enemies in pursuit of revenge? Should you kick your enemies’ children out of their ancestral homes? Is it better to be feared or loved? Should you follow a religion known for its penchant for human burnt sacrifices, even if it seems to be the “right” one? Hopefully, these aren’t questions you’re pondering. But if you’re a character in the HBO show Game of Thrones, these philosophical dilemmas are an unavoidable part of life. As you can imagine, life sucks in the fictional land of Westeros. But that’s all the more reason why the characters need philosophy. And since our own world sucks only slightly less, it’s just as much a reason for the rest of us to examine the philosophical questions of Game of Thrones as well. As far out from our daily experience as these questions appear on the surface, they aren’t too different from the main problems of human existence. In this first episode, we discuss the many philosophical themes in episode 1 of season 7 of the show, which aired in July of this year. Is it cool to kill off people in revenge? When, if ever, is revenge appropriate? What is the relationship between revenge and justice? – Arya and the Freys  Should you judge people as individuals or members of collectives? Should you show mercy to your enemies? – Sansa + Jon with the Umbers and Karstarks  Is Machiavelli’s philosophy of power right? Is it better to be feared than loved? Is goodness naive? – Cersei and Jamie’s conversation  How can a god be good + all-knowing + all-powerful in a world of suffering? What can we say about the gods of Westeros compared to “real-world” religions? – Sandor Clegane and the Brotherhood Without Banners  Can supernatural events happen? How would we know? What would they mean? – Sandor Clegane’s fire visions  Should a homeland or birthplace you’ve never seen have moral and psychological significance? – Daenarys and Dragonstone  What is the right way to think about the nature of time, legend, and history? Does history repeat itself? Are we at the end of history? When does the past fail to predict the future? – Samwell and the Archmaester  

Episode 1

Hosts James Walpole and Ryan Ferguson dive deep into Game of Thrones and break down the philosophy in each episode. From ethical dilemmas, metaphysical questions, to practical applications of the ideas behind Game of Thrones. If you are a fan of the show who is curious about philosophy, this is the show you've been waiting for! Credit for Thinker image used in logo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Auguste_Rodin_-_Penseur.png

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Game of Thrones Philosophy Breakdown

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