Call for Abstracts: Star Wars and Philosophy Strikes Back #CFP

Call for Abstracts: Star Wars and Philosophy Strikes Back #CFP April 15, 2021

Call for Abstracts 

Star Wars and Philosophy Strikes Back 

Edited by Kevin S. Decker and Jason T. Eberl  

The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series 

Please circulate and post widely.

Apologies for cross posting.

To propose ideas for future volumes in the Blackwell series please contact the Series Editor, William Irwin, at williamirwin@kings.edu

Abstracts and subsequent essays should be philosophically substantial but accessible, written to engage the intelligent lay reader. Contributors of accepted essays will receive an honorarium.

We are looking for essays that focus primarily on the films (including Rogue One and Solo) and television series (The Clone Wars, Rebels, and The Mandalorian), but may include references to novels (both “new canon” and “legend”), comics, and video games. Chapters will be organized chronologically and so each should be centrally focused on one specific Star Wars film or television series. Possible themes and topics might include, but are not limited to, the following: 

Feminine authority and power in a galaxy far, far away; Jedi mind tricks: Is it virtuous to plant ideas in weak minds?; Romancing a queen: Romantic love versus Jedi platonic love; “They’ve gone too far”: Why don’t we cheer for the Separatists?; Individuality and identity: Are clones literally a “band of brothers”?; Orchestrating a war: Can Palpatine’s conflict be a just war?; A grievous future: Posthuman cybernetic identity; “The Jedi rebellion has been foiled”: Propaganda and lies in a Galactic Republic; Friendship after losing one’s family: Ezra Bridger and the Ghost crew; Overcoming Imperial racism: Thrawn’s rise to power; Loyalty amidst thieves: A Roycean analysis of the galactic underworld; “Congratulations, you’re liberated!”: Droid freedom; Rebel justice: How freedom fighters avoid becoming terrorists; Arms race: The logic of superweapons as implements of peace; A planet that is farthest from: Tatooine as a state of nature; Is philosophy for everyone? Jawas, Tusken Raiders, and other marginalized species; “Aww, you cut off my hand!”: Impairment, disability, and techno-“fixes”; “Not this crude matter”: Non-physicalist Jedi metaphysics; “Never underestimate…”: Eco-combat against techno-imperialism; My slug, my gangster: Do oppressive regimes actually encourage criminal behavior?; “Bounty hunting is a complicated profession”: Bounty hunter ethics; Din Djarin as Stoic master; This *is* your father’s Star Wars: Nostalgic and metaphysical recurrence; My prophetic soul: How can Rey “see” past and future through Luke’s lightsaber?; Poe’s journey: The ethics of leadership; A distracted galaxy: Morality and the arms dealers of Canto Bight; Multiple embodiments: Personal identity of Force-ghosts, Palpatines, and Chosen Ones; Non-duality: How the sequel trilogy undermines moral absolutism.

Submission Guidelines:

  1. Submission deadline for abstracts (300-500 words) and CVs: July 1, 2021.
  2. Submission deadline for drafts of accepted papers:  December 1, 2021.

Kindly submit by e-mail (with or without Word attachment) to: jason.eberl@slu.edu

Via the And Philosophy blog


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