On November 23rd 1963 a time-traveling alien with a blue police box for a ship, called a TARDIS (what could that mean?), and a strange generic name—the Doctor, burst onto the small screen. The premiere of Doctor Who was, unsurprisingly, overshadowed by Kennedy’s assassination and the airing itself was hampered by several power outages. But when “The Daleks” (1963) aired a few weeks later, Doctor Who captured the hearts and imaginations of viewers in a way that began the show’s journey toward becoming a global phenomenon. The Daleks (what a brilliant invention by Terry Nation and Raymond Cusick!) required humans to take up arms against the blind rage and ignorance of those aliens. No human wanted to be EX-TER-MIN-ATED; thus we joined the Doctor in the fight against the Daleks and began our voyage with the Doctor through all of space and time that has lasted nearly fifty years, which, thanks to the new series, promises to continue for another fifty, or so we hope!
Who’s the Doctor
When we meet the Doctor (whichever incarnation), we get hooked—Doctor Who is like jelly babies for the eyes. When did you become the Doctor’s companion on the TARDIS? If it was during the mid-1960s, the show was in black and white and the Doctor was a cantankerous grandfather who had the uncanny ability to tap his chin, look up, and figure his way out of the toughest of jams, even when these jams included Daleks and Cybermen (William Hartnell, 1963-1966). In the late 1960s, he still battled Daleks and Cybermen, but he had Yeti and Ice Warriors, was younger, more childish, played the recorder, and couldn’t help but give off the persona of a cosmic hobo (Patrick Troughton, 1966-1969).
It’d be a mistake to leave out the human Doctor who called himself “Dr. Who.” “Dr. Who” appeared in two 1960s British movies with several abductees coming on board (Peter Cushing, 1965 and 1966).
If you came aboard in the early 1970s, the show was mostly in color and the Doctor was a brilliant alien scientist marooned on Earth who made do with his new and improved sonic screwdriver, a broken-down TARDIS, and some very impressive karate moves to defeat enemies like the Master, Sea Devils, and Sontarans (Jon Pertwee, 1970-1974).
From the mid-1970s to early 1980s the Doctor welcomed you on board with his charm and apparent omniscience, his long flowing scarf and fedora, jelly babies, and an irresistible smile, which he made effective use of to defeat his old nemeses and new foes, like Zygons and the Black Guardian (Tom Baker, 1974-1981).
If you began in the 1980s you still had the scarf and teeth for a little bit, but you were soon treated to a Doctor who enjoyed cricket, was a little naive in his kindness, managed to get his sonic screwdriver destroyed, and wore a piece of celery on his lapel. Even with all of this, he still had all the charm required to beat the Master, Daleks, and Cybermen on numerous occasions (Peter Davison, 1981-1984).
If your Doctor had cats instead of celery, and a patchwork suit, then you joined in the mid-1980s; a time when the Doctor was fighting new enemies like the Rani (Colin Baker, 1984-1986). The 1980s ended with the Doctor returning to his role as a father-figure, fighting the vilest, and on some occasions the sweetest, of villains in his always fashionable, question mark-covered, sweater-vest (Sylvester McCoy, 1987-1989, 1996).
The appearance of the Doctor was sparse in the 1990s, but if you were lucky enough, you were treated to a half-human Doctor, who was in the mood for love and saved the world from the Y2K disaster that almost happened—thanks (Paul McGann, 1996)!
In the new millennium, we were all treated to a regenerated Doctor as a rather cantankerous young man, who was more like a sailor in his leather jacket than spaceman. Nevertheless, when he told us to “run for your life,” we ran (Christopher Eccleston, 2005).
After only a year, the leather jacket was replaced with a suit, glasses, and Chuck Taylors (what some of you might call ‘Trainers’). But we also had some of the most exciting adventures ever with this Doctor: Cybermen, Sontarans, Vashta Nerada, Weeping Angels, and, of course, the Master (David Tennant, 2005-2010). (Notice: they keep getting younger!)
Finally, at least for now, if you’ve just begun watching, then you’ve been treated to the youngest Doctor ever, who wears a bowtie, has a new sonic screwdriver, is like a lonely Star-Whale, defeats a new race of Daleks, and battles a new batch of Weeping Angels (Matt Smith, 2010-?). The truth is, it really doesn’t matter what the Doctor’s sense of style was (is), what sort of really cool gadgets he had (has), what his TARDIS looked like on the inside, which companions he toted (totes) around time and space, or which of the scariest monsters imaginable he fought (will fight) at the time, we fell in love with the Doctor.
Who’s with Who
Like his companions, we met the Doctor at different times on his journeys, but like Ian and Barbara, we were abducted. Recall, in “An Unearthly Child” (1963) the Doctor, portrayed by William Hartnell, abducts two overly-curious school teachers, Ian and Barbara. Of course, this abduction is Ian’s and Barbara’s own fault. They’re the nosey ones; they followed the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan to the junkyard where the TARDIS was hidden; they’re the ones that forced their way onto the TARDIS; they got abducted, they deserved it—the Doctor obliges their curiosity, sweeps them across time and space, and after the initial shock of time travel, they loved the fact that they’d been abducted!
Not all companions have been physically abducted, but even the ones who “willingly” join the Doctor have their hearts and minds abducted by the wonder and majesty of what lies beyond the blue box. It’s an honor for the Doctor to ask you to join him. It’s a sign that he thinks you’re capable of considering the abstract, being adventurous, daring, as well as understanding and compassionate towards strange aliens. For viewers, we are his companions, for we see ourselves as Jamie McCrimmon and Ace, rebellious kids who find a father and a friend in the Doctor; Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Shaw, the competent scientist who equaled the Doctor’s intelligence; Sarah Jane Smith, the curious reporter who found the Doctor and his lifestyle irresistible; K-9, the lovable robot dog who never let the Doctor down; Romana, the Doctor’s friend and equal; Adric, the outsider who’s liked by no one (even most fans), but is loved and respected by the Doctor; and more recently, Rose Tyler, the woman all viewer-companions would like to be, for she’s loved by the Doctor; the determined Martha Jones, and the feisty, take no guff from anyone, office temp, Donna Noble, and now, the clever Amy Pond.
Just like the inquiring Ian and Barbara, Doctor Who piques our curiosity, our interest, and especially our sense of adventure, and before we know it, we’ve been abducted. We’re swept away in the TARDIS (well, the TARDIS on TV), and we love it!
One of the most rewarding aspects of editing this collection is getting to know our fellow abductees and learn about their philosophical adventures with the Doctor. We hope all of our new reader-companions will enjoy this philosophical journey as much as we have. As you will see, this book is a lot like the TARDIS: it’s much bigger on the inside, and once you enter, we think you’ll find yourself unable to leave. And if you do leave, like Tegan, Sarah Jane Smith, and Rose, you’ll find yourself returning to learn and experience more of both Doctor Who and Philosophy.
Next Week on Doctor Who, the Doctor Battles Philosophy!
The sense of excitement, joy, wonder, and love that are part of one’s Doctor Who-experience are the same features that motivate and inspire people to study philosophy and lead a life of reflection and inquiry. This book demonstrates the extent to which Doctor Who is philosophical: the themes, ideas, and lessons that infuse so very many of the episodes. This book will challenge our new reader-companions to reflect on one’s own personal identity, science, logic, reality, value, friendships, enemies, existence, beauty, and culture. It’s this engagement that’s the hallmark of both Philosophy and Doctor Who. It’s no surprise, then, that Doctor Who is able to continually abduct new viewer-companions, while at the same time keeping older abductees satisfied, because the search for truth, quest for knowledge, and the love of wisdom is an ongoing and engaging enterprise. From the very beginning, the Doctor s
et his two hearts on the philosopher’s task, and it’s now your chance to take a philosophical journey with us, other abductees, and the Doctor in the TARDIS.
On Board the TARDIS
Just as the classic series of Doctor Who was separated into episodes, we’ve created a six-part series that tells the story of Doctor Who and Philosophy. Episode 1 examines the many insights the Doctor provides into the problem of personal identity. How do I know I’m the same person over time? Philosophy offers several explanations and many of these explanations are hotly contested. The Doctor’s ability to regenerate presents a particularly thorny problem for philosophers. How do we know the Doctor is still the Doctor after such radical change? How can he visit his past and future selves? Patrick Stokes, Greg Littmann, David Kyle Johnson, and Richard Hanley offer four distinct explanations for what the Doctor teaches his viewer-companions about personal identity, which will have readers wondering whether they truly know who the Doctor is, and probably questioning who they are too!
Episode 2 takes reader-companions into some of the most fascinating components of our collection: the science, logic, and other really cool stuff of Doctor Who. The episode begins with Peter Worley, Philip Goff, and William Eaton, respectively, discussing the nature of time—it’s all wibbly-wobbly; the possibility of time travel and the effects that time travelers might or might not be able to cause, like stopping the pyramids from being built; and the possibility of closed causal chains or time loops. These chapters will take you into some possible worlds of mind-bending fun.
Greg Littmann’s chapter asks the question, “What’s the ‘logical’ way to live?” Or, “How would an entirely logical creature behave?” You’ll meet the Cybermen and Daleks here; so have your sonic screwdrivers ready. From logic, we move to philosophy of biology, where Bonnie Green and Chris Willmott raise the question regarding the ontological status of a species. What this means is that we don’t really know what a species is: an individual, a kind, a concept. That’s okay, biologists don’t know either. You’ll find some Dalek genetic experimentation and engineering in this chapter, too. Keep those sonic screwdrivers ready!
Paula Smithka’s chapter looks at the problem of unobservables or theoretical entities in science and philosophy of science. Since the evidence of our senses, even if indirect, is required to justify claims regarding the existence of unobservables, like quarks or the Vashta Nerada—to be is to be perceived—there’s a real problem with the Weeping Angels. For them, to be is not to be perceived. The last chapter in this episode raises the question whether science can be done without mathematics. The Carrionites seemed to manage it, what about we humans?
The story of Doctor Who and Philosophy takes an intriguing turn in Episode 3, from the world of science to the world of ethics. “It’s a different morality; get used to it or go home!” This episode addresses the Doctor’s own approach to morality and ethical behavior in Kevin S. Decker’s and Laura Geuy Akers’s chapters. Does the Doctor have a consistent set of morals or are his ethics a little wibbly-wobbly? Davros (“ Journey’s End,” 2008) accuses the Doctor of “fashioning” his companions into weapons. So, is that a moral thing to do?
The Doctor’s a feminist! J.J. Sylvia explores the extent to which the Doctor’s morality is consistent with feminist ethics of caring. Donna Marie Smith’s chapter addresses “Why the Doctor and Rose Tyler Kant Be Together.” This chapter is about the relationship which morally improves both of the Doctor and Rose’s characters and behaviors, as well as the extent of personal sacrifice which the Doctor makes, winding up alone, again.
Ed Webb and Mark Wardecker ask the question all Doctor Who viewer-companions have asked: Should the Daleks be ex-ter-min-ated? Yes! Well, maybe not . . . is there morality in genocide of any species, even a dangerous one? But the Daleks (and the Cybermen) are speciesist! Appealing to Peter Singer’s work on animal rights, Sarah Honeychurch and Niall Barr contend that the Daleks (and Cybermen) will never defeat humans because our emotions are important for formulating our moral codes. Just because they’re speiciesists, doesn’t mean humans have to be.
The final chapter in this episode is Courtland Lewis’s apologetic for the Cybermen. He contends they’re not really evil, even though they do bad things to humans. What?! They want to “upgrade” humans. But maybe they’re offering us a better life, or so they think; we won’t have to suffer much. Hey! Don’t be speciesist!
Now that all the ethical questions are settled, we take an existentialist turn in Episode 4—we’re challenged to consider our own human existence. Even though the Doctor is an alien, he teaches us a lot about what it means to be human. He loves humans because we’re “amazing,” and of course, we’re “totally mad.” Michael Hand and Paul Dawson’s chapters address the issue of the importance of bodily identity, death, and regeneration—for the Doctor, not humans. But does the Doctor actually die when he regenerates? He did say, “I was dead too long this time” (“Doctor Who: The TV Movie,” 1996). The idea of death causes humans cosmic angst; but it’s part of our human condition. That’s why we love the Doctor—he does what we can’t—regenerate. We forget our cosmic angst for a little while when we watch Doctor Who. Oh, and there’s a bit of reviewing some aspects of personal identity in these two chapters. So, if you didn’t get the whole story in Episode 1, you’ve a second chance. You never know when you might need to convince the Daleks that you’re not the person they want to exterminate.
Ruth Deller’s chapter, “What the World Needs is ... A Doctor” intricately and skillfully exposes religious imagery in Doctor Who. The Doctor and Jesus Christ—a connection! They play parallel roles. The Daleks and Cybermen didn’t notice, but according to Deller, the “Right-wing Christian lobby group Christian Voice” took notice because “they protested against the scene in “Voyage of the Damned” where the Doctor ascended, flanked by robot angels on either side, claiming it portrayed him as a Messiah.”
Adam Riggio draws upon Friedrich Nietzsche and Gilles Deleuze to explore the nihilism of the Master, the quest for meaning and value which, ultimately, the Master doesn’t expect to find; and the Doctor’s resentment, desire for revenge, particularly against the Daleks, but recognizes this “Master” side of himself and is able to overcome it and create meaning and value. Continuing with the “dark side” of human reality, using the work of the “quintessential pessimist philosopher,” Arthur Schopenhauer, Ken Curry argues that Will is energy or force. This force is mysterious because we don’t understand what drives it. He further contends that this Will is the Master side in all of us, just as the Master and the Doctor are aspects of each other: the Doctor says, “In many ways we have the same mind” (“Logopolis,” 1981). The Master’s mind is in many ways the same as all of our minds. That’s pretty scary. In the “dark,” we get either the Master or Vashta Nerada! Maybe we should heed the Doctor’s warning: “Stay in the light!” (“Silence in the Library,” 2008).
Paula Smithka’s “Sympathy for the Master,” is a bit of an apologetic for the “quintessential bad guy,” as Ken Curry describes the Master. What is it with the editors of this volume? Lewis asks us to consider the Cybermen as beings who act altruistically in their desire to upgrade humans and members of other species. Now, Smithka contends the Master is a victim. They’re mad; simply stark-raving mad! Probably, but we ask our reader-companions to look a little deeper into our anti-heroes. The Master is the tool of “the cunning of reason,” as Georg Hegel would say; a tool of the historical progression. Actually, it’s the surviving Time Lords (that were supposed to have been destroyed by the Daleks!) that make him their pawn in their grand plan of “Return.” Hey, what would you do if you heard drums in your head since you were a child?
Roman Altshuler addresses Davros’s claim that the Doctor is “the destroyer of worlds” (“Journey’s End,” 2008). Altshuler forces reader-companions to consider some of the most difficult and sometimes, terrible, decisions the Doctor has made. It’s an investigation into the Doctor’s “soul,” so
to speak, in the sense that some of his decisions are, to say the least, morally questionable. Altshuler contends that the Doctor’s compassion is a bit sketchy at times. The companions help temper the Doctor’s bad wolf by enhancing his compassion. The Doctor gives the aggressor a choice which demonstrates his “authentic concern” for others. Some bad actions ... but right motives.
Episode 5 deals with aesthetics (beauty) and contains one of Rassilon’s crown jewels, Michelle Saint’s and Peter A. French’s essay “Blink: Monsters, Horror and the Carroll Thesis.” In their essay, Saint and French shed new light on our understanding of fear and horror, and show why Doctor Who fans are correct in their assessment that “Blink” (2007) is one of the scariest Doctor Who episodes ever, even though the monsters, the Weeping Angels, are “beautiful” statues. They also point to the irony that, even though the Weeping Angels may be the scariest creatures, it’s not because they do actual violence against their victims—they don’t kill their victims, unlike most monsters. Instead, they rip their victims from their present life paths and send them into the past where they live out their lives along a new pathway. Talk about upending one’s life plans! But we just can’t not blink; at least not for long. This is what, in part, makes the Weeping Angels so scary—they prey on what we can’t control.
Clive Cazeaux shows reader-companions why and how the Daleks are beautiful, taking us on an aesthetic journey that shows us how beauty and monstrosity can coexist. Of course, we may be trying to notice that beauty peering from the shelter of behind the couch! Gregory Kalyniuk ends the episode with an intriguing suggestion that the writings of G.W. Leibniz serve as a foundation for brilliant science fiction. Kalyniuk weaves analogies between Leibniz’s God and the Time Lords arguing that just as God actualizes the “best of all possible worlds” and establishes harmony in that world, so the Time Lords attempt to maintain order in the universe, even though upon entering the Matrix one only has confused ideas. Further Leibnizian motifs can be seen throughout Doctor Who—monads (they’re windowless, you know) are the basis for the TARDIS, and there’s a calculus ratiocinator of the Matrix. But you’ll just have to read the chapter to achieve some Dalek-type enlightenment on this subject matter.
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