Philosophy For Our Times Halloween SPECIAL | The philosophy of the apocalypse
Oct 31, 2025
Explore our fascination with apocalyptic stories and the monsters that reflect our deepest fears. Delve into how The Last of Us embodies Hobbesian themes of human nature and the challenges of collective action. Discover why disaster narratives captivate us and the moral dilemmas they provoke. Plus, unpack the allure of dystopian fiction and its dual potential for reactionary and utopian visions. This Halloween, embark on a captivating journey through the macabre!
44:25
Monsters Reflect Inner Fears
- Monsters embody our anxieties and transgress boundaries, so we place them at a safe distance in stories.
- The COVID-19 pandemic revealed monsters live inside societies and individuals, not just on maps.
Pandemic As Psychological Monster
- The coronavirus was a psychological phenomenon as much as a medical one, producing scapegoating and panic.
- Both denial and hysteria hinder coherent responses; reasoned 'depressive' attention enables action.
Hobbes In Post-Apocalyptic Fiction
- The Last of Us frames post-apocalypse through a Hobbesian state of nature where trust collapses and survival dominates.
- The series is sceptical of revolutionary collective action and suspicious of messianic fixes like Ellie's immunity.
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Intro
00:00 • 2min
Monsters as Internalized Fears
01:41 • 11min
Hobbesian State in The Last of Us
12:20 • 12min
Why We Are Drawn to Disaster Stories
24:42 • 9min
Craving Dystopia and Political Possibilities
33:36 • 11min
Outro
44:36 • 21sec
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Archaeologies of the Future
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Frederick Jameson
#14296
• Mentioned in 3 episodes
The ends of the world
Peter Brannen
In 'The Ends of the World,' Peter Brannen explores Earth's major mass extinction events, revealing the science behind these cataclysmic events.
The book takes readers on a journey through deep time, examining the geological and biological evidence of each extinction.
Brannen elucidates the causes, effects, and aftermaths of these events, from asteroid impacts to volcanic eruptions.
He emphasizes the role of climate change and environmental degradation in driving these crises.
By understanding past extinctions, Brannen encourages readers to reflect on the current biodiversity crisis and humanity's impact on the planet.
#344
• Mentioned in 58 episodes
Middlemarch
George Eliot
Middlemarch, written by George Eliot, is a novel that delves into the complexities of provincial life in 19th-century England.
The story revolves around the intersecting lives of its characters, particularly Dorothea Brooke and Dr. Tertius Lydgate, as they navigate marriage, vocation, and social class.
Eliot critiques the conventional romance narratives of her time by portraying marriage as a complex and often problematic institution.
The novel also explores themes of idealism, self-interest, hypocrisy, and the constraints on women's lives.
Set in the fictional town of Middlemarch between 1829 and 1832, the novel incorporates historical events such as the Great Reform Act of 1832 and early developments in medicine.
Eliot's realistic portrayal of ordinary human life, with its quiet tragedies and small triumphs, has made 'Middlemarch' a masterpiece of English literature.
#209
• Mentioned in 82 episodes
The Road
Tom Stechschulte
Cormac McCarthy
The Road is set in a world that has been devastated by an unspecified cataclysmic event, resulting in the extinction of nearly all life on Earth.
The story follows an unnamed father and his young son as they travel south along the road, carrying their meager possessions and a pistol with only two bullets.
The father, suffering from a worsening respiratory condition, is determined to protect his son from the dangers of their new world, including cannibalistic marauders.
Along their journey, they encounter various survivors, some of whom are cruel and others who show kindness.
The novel explores themes of love, survival, and the preservation of humanity in a world devoid of hope.
Ultimately, the father's health fails, and he dies, but not before ensuring his son's safety with a new family who may offer a chance for a better future.
#79
• Mentioned in 154 episodes
War and Peace
Leo Tolstoy
Set during the Napoleonic Wars, 'War and Peace' follows the lives of several Russian aristocratic families, including the Bezukhovs, the Rostovs, and the Bolkonskys.
The novel spans from 1805 to 1820 and is known for its realistic detail and psychological analysis.
It explores the impact of Napoleon's invasion of Russia on the characters and society, delving into themes of love, family, war, and personal growth.
The novel includes historical events such as the Battle of Austerlitz, the Treaties of Tilsit, and the French invasion of Russia, intertwining historical and fictional elements.
#251
• Mentioned in 73 episodes
LEVIATHAN
Thomas Hobbes
Published in 1651, 'Leviathan' by Thomas Hobbes is a comprehensive treatise on political philosophy.
The book is divided into four main parts: 'Of Man,' 'Of Commonwealth,' 'Of a Christian Commonwealth,' and 'Of the Kingdom of Darkness.
' Hobbes argues that the natural state of humans is one of conflict and anarchy, and that the best way to achieve peace and security is through the establishment of a commonwealth governed by an absolute sovereign.
This sovereign, which Hobbes terms the 'Leviathan,' has supreme authority over all aspects of governance, including law, religion, and public offices.
Hobbes' work is a foundational text in social contract theory and continues to influence political thought to this day.
#3630
• Mentioned in 10 episodes
We
Yevgeny Zamyatin
Written in 1920-21, 'We' by Yevgeny Zamyatin is a seminal work of dystopian fiction.
The novel is set in the twenty-sixth century in a society known as OneState, where citizens are reduced to mere numbers and live in a glass-walled city under the control of the 'Benefactor'.
The story follows D-503, a mathematician and spacecraft engineer, whose life is devoid of passion and creativity until he begins to realize his individuality.
The novel explores themes of individuality versus collective identity, the impact of technology on society, and the struggle for freedom in a highly controlled environment.
#7669
• Mentioned in 5 episodes
The wall
Jean-Paul Sartre
The Wall is a collection of five short stories by Jean-Paul Sartre, published in 1939.
The title story, 'The Wall,' is set during the Spanish Civil War and depicts the mental and emotional struggles of three political prisoners on the eve of their execution by a firing squad.
The story delves into themes of existentialism, death, and the human condition, as the prisoners grapple with their impending doom and the meaning of their lives.
The collection also includes other psychological tales that explore themes of madness, sexuality, and the human condition.
#21428
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
Migration
Charlotte McConaghy
Maggie O'Farrell
#1
• Mentioned in 1,222 episodes
1984
George Orwell
Published in 1949, '1984' is a cautionary tale by George Orwell that explores the dangers of totalitarianism.
The novel is set in a dystopian future where the world is divided into three super-states, with the protagonist Winston Smith living in Oceania, ruled by the mysterious and omnipotent leader Big Brother.
Winston works at the Ministry of Truth, where he rewrites historical records to conform to the Party's ever-changing narrative.
He begins an illicit love affair with Julia and starts to rebel against the Party, but they are eventually caught and subjected to brutal torture and indoctrination.
The novel highlights themes of government surveillance, manipulation of language and history, and the suppression of individual freedom and independent thought.
#206
• Mentioned in 83 episodes
The Handmaid's Tale
Margaret Atwood
The novel is set in a near-future New England in the Republic of Gilead, a patriarchal, totalitarian state that has overthrown the United States government.
Offred, the narrator, is one of the 'Handmaids', women who are forcibly assigned to produce children for the ruling class, known as 'Commanders'.
The story explores themes of powerless women, loss of female agency and individuality, and the suppression of women's reproductive rights.
Offred's life is marked by her restrictive routine, her memories of her past life, and her interactions with the Commander, his wife Serena Joy, and other Handmaids, including her friend Ofglen who is part of an underground resistance movement.
The novel is a scathing satire, an ominous warning, and a tour de force of narrative suspense.
#4944
• Mentioned in 7 episodes
The mushroom at the end of the world
Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing
The book follows the matsutake mushroom, a delicacy in Japan, to explore the unexpected corners of capitalism.
It delves into the worlds of Japanese gourmets, capitalist traders, Hmong jungle fighters, industrial forests, and more, highlighting the resilience of the matsutake and the entanglements between various species in surviving and creating new environments.
Tsing critiques capitalism and argues for diverse and contingent responses to understand its complexities, emphasizing the importance of multispecies assemblages and the precarious nature of life in the ruins of capitalist systems.
#6345
• Mentioned in 6 episodes
The Wilderness
Undelivered Lectures
Ayşegül Savaş
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Lagoon
Nnedi Okorafor
#409
• Mentioned in 52 episodes
The Ministry for the Future
Kim Stanley Robinson
The Ministry for the Future is a novel by Kim Stanley Robinson that delves into the urgent issue of climate change.
Set in the near future, the story follows the establishment of a UN agency, the Ministry for the Future, whose mission is to advocate for the rights of future generations.
The novel is told through multiple perspectives, including those of Mary Murphy, the head of the Ministry, and Frank May, an American aid worker who survives a devastating heat wave in India.
The book explores various innovative solutions to climate change, such as the introduction of a new currency called 'carboni' to incentivize decarbonization, and it presents a hopeful yet realistic vision of how humanity might cooperate to mitigate the effects of climate change.
The narrative includes a mix of fictional eyewitness accounts, non-fiction descriptions, and diverse writing styles, reflecting the complexity and urgency of the climate crisis.
Why are we fascinated by apocalyptic stories?
Join the team at the IAI for a reading of four Halloween-themed articles, written by historian and philosopher Natalie Lawrence, professor of political philosophy Matthew Festenstein, and professor of comparative literature Florian Mussgnug. From the allure of the end times to the symbolic value of monsters, this episode is a spooky journey through all things macabre.
Natalie Lawrence is a researcher in history and the philosophy of science at the University of Cambridge, specialising in the natural histories of exotic monsters. Matthew Festenstein is a professor of political philosophy at the University of York where he is the former director of the Morrell Centre for Toleration and head of the politics department. Florian Mussgnug is professor of comparative literature and Vice Dean International for Arts and Humanities at University College London.
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