We’ve been here before. I’m a bit of a sucker for the pop-culture and philosophy book series, and recently added another two volumes to my collection, a collection that now counts as a “Collection” because it contains seven volumes. For those unfamiliar, there are now a couple publishers who now regularly put out a call to academics to submit philosophical essays that examine philosophical questions using aspects of popular television and literature as subjects or starting points for those essays. And yes, while the topics can be a bit whimsical, the subject matter is often very serious and enlightening.

I’ve only really had the opportunity to flip through the index and read a couple essays from each of these new books, but already I’ve got a good feel for the results of these particular collections. And (unlike the last volume I picked up which didn’t really seem to have sufficient content to explore — think twenty essays on nearly identical topics) these two books come from source material that is rich in complexity and curious characters whose humanity is rife for philosophical exploration.

Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Knowledge Here Begins Out There

For those who have not met my obsession with the modern incarnation of Battlestar Galactica, let me introduce you. Blog Reader meet Battlestar Fan. Battlestar Fan meet Blog Reader. Now that we’re all friends, let’s talk.

The depth of moral and philosophical exploration that is ready-built into the plot of this show is begging for this kind of discussion. I think, unless I’m mistaken, the last time I said that about one of these books was when the original volume appeared on shelves diving into the complex mind-frak that was The Matrix. Like that particular movie (and subsequent pop-thought book) the popularity of this drama is built around multi-dimensional, subtly-developed plots and characters who beg questions of mind, moral, and human philosophy, pulling themes from a society dealing with the collapse of civilization, war, revenge, religion, identity, and death. I think that’s a good starting point. The source material offered by this show is proving to be a dark hole down which the answers to these questions — often just more difficult questions — are able to pull so many curious minds. And so far I haven’t been disappointed.

The Office and Philosophy: Scenes from the Unexamined Life

The second volume recently added to my shelf is a series of twenty-odd philosophical essays and discussions derived from both the British and American series of The Office, that often-uncomfortable, faux-documentary peeking into the quirky world of day-to-day paper sales company.

Like the previous volume, the depth of character development in this source material is rich enough to handle a wide variety of philosophical exploration, and I’ve been delighted with the results so far. Unlike those dark issues of BSG, however, characters in The Office come from a starting point of comic flaws and tragic interactions and this book exploits that fact tackling issues of human character, ignorance, and the quirks of intra-office relationships. In fact I would say the source material is so entirely different (heavy, end of the universe, war ravaged science fiction versus light, situation-driven, comedically awkward, docu-drama) that the two books are a balanced pair to have purchased (and be reading) simultaneously.

Both: recommended. (So far.)