James B. South - James Bond and Philosophy: Questions Are Forever

James Bond and Philosophy

Popular Culture and Philosophy

Series Editor: George A. Reisch

(Series Editor for this volume was William Irwin)

VOLUME 1

Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing (2000) Edited by William Irwin

VOLUME 2

The Simpsons and Philosophy: The Doh! of Homer (2001) Edited by William Irwin, Mark T. Conard, and Aeon J. Skoble

VOLUME 3

The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002) Edited by William Irwin

VOLUME 4

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale (2003) Edited by James B. South

VOLUME 5

The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (2003) Edited by Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson

VOLUME 6

Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batters Box (2004) Edited by Eric Bronson

VOLUME 7

The Sopranos and Philosophy: I Kill Therefore I Am (2004) Edited by Richard Greene and Peter Vernezze

VOLUME 8

Woody Allen and Philosophy: You Mean My Whole Fallacy Is Wrong? (2004) Edited by Mark T. Conard and Aeon J. Skoble

VOLUME 9

Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts (2004) Edited by David Baggett and Shawn E. Klein

VOLUME 10

Mel Gibsons Passion and Philosophy: The Cross, the Questions, the Controversy (2004) Edited by Jorge J.E. Gracia

VOLUME 11

More Matrix and Philosophy: Revolutions and Reloaded Decoded (2005) Edited by William Irwin

VOLUME 12

Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful than You Can Possibly Imagine (2005) Edited by Jason T. Eberl and Kevin S. Decker

VOLUME 13

Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way (2005) Edited by Tom Morris and Matt Morris

VOLUME 14

The Atkins Diet and Philosophy: Chewing the Fat with Kant and Nietzsche (2005) Edited by Lisa Heldke, Kerri Mommer, and Cynthia Pineo

VOLUME 15

The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch, and the Worldview (2005) Edited by Gregory Bassham and Jerry L. Walls

VOLUME 16

Hip Hop and Philosophy: Rhyme 2 Reason (2005) Edited by Derrick Darby and Tommie Shelby

VOLUME 17

Bob Dylan and Philosophy: Its Alright Ma (Im Only Thinking) (2006) Edited by Peter Vernezze and Carl J. Porter

VOLUME 18

Harley-Davidson and Philosophy: Full-Throttle Aristotle (2006) Edited by Bernard E. Rollin, Carolyn M. Gray, Kerri Mommer, and Cynthia Pineo

VOLUME 19

Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge Nudge, Think Think! (2006) Edited by Gary L. Hardcastle and George A Reisch

Volume 20

Poker and Philosophy: Pocket Rockets and Philosopher Kings (2006) Edited by Eric Bronson

VOLUME 21

U2 and Philosophy: How to Decipher an Atomic Band (2006) Edited by Mark A. Wrathall

VOLUME 22

The Undead and Philosophy: Chicken Soup for the Soulless (2006) Edited by Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad

VOLUME 23

James Bond and Philosophy: Questions Are Forever (2006) Edited by Jacob M. Held and James B. South

VOLUME 24

Bullshit and Philosophy: Guaranteed to Get Perfect Results Every Time (2006) Edited by Gary L. Hardcastle and George A. Reisch

VOLUME 25

The Beatles and Philosophy: Nothing You Can Think that Cant Be Thunk (2006) Edited by Michael Baur and Steven Baur

IN PREPARATION:

South Park and Philosophy (2007) Edited by Richard Hanley

Alfred Hitchcock and Philosophy (2007) Edited by David Baggett and William Drumin

The Grateful Dead and Philosophy (2007) Edited by Steven Gimbel

Popular Culture and Philosophy

James Bond and
Philosophy

Questions Are Forever

Edited by

JACOB M. HELD

and

JAMES B. SOUTH

OPEN COURT
Chicago and La Salle, Illinois

Volume 23 in the series, Popular Culture and Philosophy

To order books from Open Court, call 1-800-815-2280, or visit our website at www.opencourtbooks.com.

Open Court Publishing Company is a division of Carus Publishing Company.

Copyright 2006 by Carus Publishing Company

First printing 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Open Court Publishing Company, a division of Carus Publishing Company, 315 Fifth Street, P.O. Box 300, Peru, Illinois, 61354-3000.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

James Bond and philosophy : questions are forever / edited by James B. South and Jacob M. Held.

p. cm. (Popular culture and philosophy ; v. 23)

Summary: A collection of philosophical essays about the fictional world of James Bond as seen in Ian Flemings novels and the ongoing film series Issues addressed include existentialism and the good life, crime and punishment, gender politics, the cold war and nuclear proliferation, and human interrelation with technoogyProvided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8126-9816-9 (trade pbk. : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 0-8126-9816-9 (trade pbk. : alk. paper)

1. Fleming, Ian, 1908-1964Philosophy. 2. Fleming, Ian, 19081964CharactersJames Bond. 3. Bond, James (Fictitious character) 4. Spy stories, EnglishHistory and criticism. 5. Fleming, Ian, 19081964Film and video adaptations. 6. James Bond filmsHistory and criticism. 7. Philosophy in literature. 8. Philosophy in motion pictures. I. Held, Jacob M., 1977- II. South, James B., 1960-PR6056.L4Z73 2006
823.914dc22

2006024448

To my colleagues
in the Philosophy Department
at Marquette University

James B. South

To Wyatt and Lillian

Daddy

BETH BUTTERFIELD

MAHLETE-TSIG GETACHEW

JAMES B. SOUTH

SUZIE GIBSON

SUE MATHESON

ISHAY LANDA

CHARLES TALIAFERRO and MICHEL Le GALL

MATTHEW TEDESCO

GREG FORSTER

JACOB M. HELD

JEROLD J. ABRAMS

STEVEN ZANI

WILLIAM J. McKINNEY

ROBERT ARP and KEVIN S. DECKER

DEAN A. KOWALSKI

First, I would like to thank James South for suggesting this project, and then for allowing me to do the majority of work on it and thus gain valuable experience. I will take responsibility for all remaining errors and spare his reputation. I would also like to thank Bill Irwin for his support and insight in editing this volume, as well as a general thank you for editing this series and promoting the popularization of philosophy without diminishing its seriousness as a discipline. Thanks also to my wife who is always supportive, for some reason I havent yet figured out. And to my mother and brother who put up with a young boy obsessed with James Bond who insisted that Bond and his feats were not impossible or ridiculous, but that he was simply very well trained, and if youre not going to take it seriously you can leave the room.

Jacob M. Held

My greatest debt is to my co-editor, Jake Held. Specifically, his enthusiasm for the project and conscientious work were essential for completion of this volume. More generally, my conversations with him have been philosophically rewarding, and I count myself fortunate to have collaborated with him over the last several years. My wife Kelly Wilson is largely responsible for re-introducing me to pleasures of the spy genre, so without her I never would have thought of doing a book like this. Also, my thanks to a group of friendsBetty, Bill, Cindy, Deb, Kate, Linda, Nancy, Nicky, and Sandywho regularly remind me how much fun it is to talk about spies. Finally, Id like to note my appreciation for support at Marquette University that Ms. Beth OSullivan and Ms. Lula Hopkins provide me on a daily basis. If it werent for their patience, good humor, and efficiency, I would never have completed my work on this volume.