Granny Weatherwax and Discworld [Index Post]

April 9, 2012 By 6 Comments
weatherwax wednesday

When I first started this blog, I was casting about for a few types of post I could repeat every week in order to get on a regular schedule.  The one that felt the most natural was a feature I named "Weatherwax Wednesdays" where I used a quote from Terry Pratchett's Discworld, usually involving the character Granny Weatherwax, as a jumping off point to talk about moral philosophy. Introducing Weatherwax Wednesday -- Who is Granny Weatherwax, and why do I love her so? "It’d be in me … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Reviews/Recommendations, Sequence Index Tagged With: 6 Comments

“You can’t go around building a better world for people”

July 28, 2010 By 2 Comments

For an explanation of what Weatherwax Wednesdays are all about, read the introduction post.  This week’s Discworld quote comes from Witches Abroad, which is, among many other thing, a retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale. In the story, Granny Weatherwax and her companions are pitted against a more conventional fairy godmother, who is intent on scripting a happy ending for the characters. ‘We’re the other kind [of godmother],’ said Granny. ‘We’re the kind that gives people … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Morality in Practice, Parsing Catholicism Tagged With: , , , 2 Comments

“You have to start out learning to believe the little lies”

July 21, 2010 By 9 Comments

For an explanation of what Weatherwax Wednesdays are all about, read the introduction post.  This week's quote builds on Monday's post about the impact of the Santa Claus story on children.  Unsurprisingly, in Discworld, Christmas is a little stranger.  In Hogfather, Death must take over the duties of the Santa-analogue, after an attempt is made on his life.  In the passage below, Death explains to his mostly-mortal daughter, Susan, why the Hogfather can't be allowed to perish. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Epistemology/Philosophy Tagged With: , , , , 9 Comments