Ender’s Game and Philosophy (E-Book) von Kevin S. Decker

Introduction: What Is Enders Game? 1

Part One THIRD: The Making of an Impossible Child 7

1 The Teachers Got Me Into This: Educational Skirmishes with a Pinch of Freedom 9
Cam Cobb

2 Illusions of Freedom, Tragedies of Fate: The Moral Development of Ender Wiggin 21
Jeremy Proulx

3 Xenocides Paradox: The Virtue of Being Ender 32
Jeff Ewing

4 Teaching to the Test: Constructing the Identity of a Space Commander 41
Chad William Timm

Part Two GAME: Cooperation or Confrontation? 53

5 The Enemys Gate Is Down: Perspective, Empathy, and Game Theory 55
Andrew Zimmerman Jones

6 War Games as Childs Play 66
Matthew Brophy

7 Forming the Formless: Sunzi and the Military Logic of Ender Wiggin 78
Morgan Deane

8 Do Good Games Make Good People? 89
Brendan P. Shea

Part Three HIVE-QUEEN: All Together Now 99

9 Bugger All!: The Clash of Cultures in Enders Game 101
Cole Bowman

10 Why Ender Cant Go Home: Philotic Connections and Moral Responsibility 112
Brett Chandler Patterson

11 Of Gods and Buggers: Friendship in Enders Game 124
Jeffery L. Nicholas

Part Four WAR: Kill or Be Killed 137

12 I Destroy Them: Ender, Good Intentions, and Moral Responsibility 139
Lance Belluomini

13 Enders Beginning and the Just War 151
James L. Cook

14 You Had to Be a Weapon, Ender We Aimed You: Moral Responsibility in Enders Game 163
Danielle Wylie

15 The Unspoken Rules of Manly Warfare: Just War Theory in Enders Game 175
Kody W. Cooper

Part Five HEGEMON: The Terrible Things Are Only About to Begin 187

16 Locke and Demosthenes: Virtually Dominating the World 189
Kenneth Wayne Sayles III

17 Enders Dilemma: Realism, Neoliberalism, and the Politics of Power 202
Ted Henry Brown and Christie L. Maloyed

18 People Are Tools 212
Greg Littmann

Convening Authorities of the Court Martial of Colonel Hyrum Graff 224

The Ansible Index 230

Celebrating the long-awaited release of the movie adaptation of Orson Scott Cards novel about highly trained child geniuses fighting a race of invading aliens, this collection of original essays probes key philosophical questions raised in the narrative, including the ethics of child soldiers, politics on the internet, and the morality of war and genocide.

• Original essays dissect the diverse philosophical questions raised in Cards best-selling sci-fi classic, winner of the Nebula and Hugo Awards and which has been translated in 29 languages
• Publication coincides with planned release of major motion picture adaptation ofEnders Game starring Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford
• Treats a wealth of core contemporary issues in morality and ethics, including child soldiers, the best kind of education and the use and misuse of global communications for political purposes
• A stand-out addition to the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series

William Irwin is Professor of Philosophy at Kings College in Pennsylvania. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestsellingThe Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles includingSuperman and Philosophy,Black Sabbath and Philosophy, andSpider-Man and Philosophy.