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Interview

William Irwin

William Irwin edits Blackwell’s ‘Philosophy And Pop Culture’ book series. Grant Bartley asks him about Black Sabbath & Philosophy.

Hello Bill. What’s the philosophical relevance of studying pop culture for you?

Hi. For me, the philosophical importance of pop culture is the vivid examples it provides. Philosophy has always found value in thought experiments, but the examples that philosophers come up with tend to be less engaging than those of Hollywood writers. For example, when The Matrix depicted the possibility of deception by a comprehensive virtual reality program, it immediately got the interest of millions of people in a way that legions of Descartes scholars never could.

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