Overview

Explore the philosophical wisdom of Taylor Swift and her music Taylor Swift is a “Mastermind” when it comes to relationships, songwriting, and performing sold-out stadium tours. But did you know that Taylor is also a philosophical mastermind? Taylor Swift and Philosophy is the first book to explore the philosophical topics that arise from Taylor Swift's life and music. Edited and authored by Swifties who also happen to be philosophers and scholars, this fun and engaging book is written with general readers in mind—you don't have to be a devoted fan or a specialist in philosophy to explore the themes, concepts, and questions expressed in Taylor's songs. Is Taylor Swift a philosopher? What can her songs tell us about ethics and society? What is the nature of friendship? Should you forgive someone for breaking your heart? Presenting top-tier research and new perspectives on important contemporary issues, twenty-seven chapters discuss the philosophical contexts of Taylor's work, such as the ethics of reputational damage, the impacts of first impressions, the moral obligation to speak out against injustice, and much more. Taylor Swift and Philosophy is a must-read for Swifties who want to deepen their appreciation and understanding of Taylor's work, as well as for philosophy students and scholars with an interest in popular culture and media studies.

Full Product Details

Author:   Catherine M. Robb ,  Georgie Mills ,  William Irwin (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania)
Publisher:   John Wiley & Sons Inc
Imprint:   Wiley-Blackwell
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 0.80cm , Length: 22.60cm
Weight:   0.295kg
ISBN:  

9781394238590

ISBN 10:   1394238592
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   16 September 2024
Audience:   General/trade ,  College/higher education ,  General ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Contributors viii Introducing … Taylor Swift’s Philosophy Era xiv Catherine M. Robb and Georgie Mills “Who Is Taylor Swift Anyway? Ew” 1 1 Is Taylor Swift a Philosopher? 3 Catherine M. Robb 2 “You Should Find Another Guiding Light”: Is Taylor Swift Admirable? 12 Kate C.S. Schmidt 3 Eyes Open: Taylor Swift and the Philosophy of Easter Eggs 19 Eline Kuipers 4 Taylor Swift and the Ethics of Body Image 28 Gah-Kai Leung 5 So Mother for That: Taylor Swift and Childless Mothering 36 Lucy Britt and Brian Britt “Look What You Made Me Do”: Reputation, Forgiveness, and Blame 47 6 Can I Forgive You for Breaking My Heart? 49 Sophia Pettigrove and Glen Pettigrove 7 How to Forgive an Innocent: Taylor, Kanye, and the Ethics of Forgiveness 58 Sarah Köglsperger 8 “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things”: Goodwill as a Finite Resource 66 Georgie Mills 9 Taylor Swift’s Philosophy of Reputation 72 Catherine M. Robb and Roos Slegers 10 “It’s Me, Hi! I’m the Problem It’s Me”: Taylor Swift and Self- Blame 81 Agnès Baehni “The Girl in the Dress Wrote You a Song” 89 11 Begin Again (Taylor’s Version): On Taylor Swift’s Repetition and Difference 91 King-Ho Leung 12 Is Taylor Swift’s Music Timeless?: A Metaphysical Proof 99 Patrick Dawson 13 “I Remember It All Too Well”: Memory, Nostalgia, and the Archival Art of Songwriting 107 Rebecca Keddie 14 Taylor’s Version: Rerecording, Narrative, and Self- Interpretation 116 Jana Alvara Carstens “With My Calamitous Love and Insurmountable Grief” 127 15 Taylor Swift on the Values and Vulnerability of Love 129 Macy Salzberger 16 “Every Scrap of You Would Be Taken from Me”: Taylor Swift on Grief 137 Jonathan Birch 17 “What a Shame She Went Mad”: Anger, Affective Injustice, and Taylor Swift’s “mad woman” 147 Erica Bigelow 18 I’m Fine with My Spite: The Philosophy of Female Anger in the Work of Taylor Swift 154 Amanda Cercas Curry and Alba Curry “I Should’ve Known”: Taylor Swift’s Philosophy of Knowledge 163 19 “Summer Love” or “Just a Summer Thing?”: Feminist Standpoint Epistemology and the folklore Love Triangle 165 Lottie Pike and Tom Beevers 20 The Trouble with Knowing You Were Trouble 174 Eric Scarffe and Katherine Valde 21 “I Knew Everything When I Was Young”: Examining the Wisdom of Youth 182 Urja Lakhani 22 How Do We Know What Taylor Swift Is Feeling? 189 Neil Mussett “Back to December”: Fate, Memory, and Imagination 199 23 A Real Lasting Legacy: Memory, Imagination, and Taylor Swift 201 Christopher Buford 24 Stained Glass Windows in My Mind: Modality in the Imagery of Taylor Swift 208 Shoshannah Diehl 25 “Take Me to the Lakes”: Transcendentalism and Ecology in Taylor Swift’s folklore 216 Joshua Fagan 26 Wildest Dreams: Stoic Fate and Acceptance (Taylor’s Version) 225 David Hahn 27 Mythic Motifs in The Tortured Poets Department: “The Story Isn’t Mine Anymore” 231 Georgie Mills Index of Terms and Names 238 Index of Taylor Swift’s Songs and Albums 241

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Author Information

CATHERINE M. ROBB is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Tilburg University, Netherlands. Her research interests include ethics, metaphysics, aesthetics, and applied philosophy, with a focus on the nature and value of ability, skill and talent, and related ethical implications. GEORGIE MILLS is a Research Fellow at Delft University of Technology, Netherlands. She is primarily a philosopher of science, emotion, and medicine with a range of interests in the philosophy of pop culture. She has published work on Punk, Post-Punk, Britney Spears, and Ted Lasso.

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