The Last of Us and Philosophy

Contributors: Survivors viii

Acknowledgments: Thank Who You Can Thank xiv

Introduction: No Questions Left Behind xv

Part I Joel's Choice 1

1 Joel's Choice: Apocalyptic Fantasies, Dystopian Hope, and the Post-Human Question 3
Clint Wesley Jones

2 Justifying Joel: In Defense of Love and Favoritism 10
Daniel Irwin and William Irwin

3 "He Who Fights with Monsters": Inner-Circle vs. the World in The Last of Us 19
Dylan Skurka

4 Is Humanity Worth Saving?: Philosophical Pessimism and Joel's Choice 26
Quân Nguyen

Part II Justice 35

5 Is Ellie's Revenge Ethically Justified? 37
Alberto Oya

6 Necessary Violence in The Last of Us Part II 45
Tim Jones

7 Natural Law and Positive Law: Marlene's Understanding of Law and Justice 52
Juliele Maria Sievers

8 The Last of Us, Hobbes, and the State of Nature 58
Armond Boudreaux

9 Decision Making and Exclusion in The Last of Us 65
Yassine Dguidegue

Part III The Individual and Society 71

10 Trust, Trustworthiness, and Betrayal in a Post-Apocalyptic World 73
Mackenzie Graham

11 Caring for Ellie: From Cadet, to Cargo, to (Almost) Cure 81
Traci Phillipson

12 The Last of Love: Eudaimonia, Friendship, and Love in The Last of Us 89
Darci Doll

13 Ellie and Abby Are the Queer Feminist Icons We've Been Waiting For 97
Susan Peppers-Bates and Mary Bernard

Part IV Monsters and Us 105

14 Kiss of a Cordy: Why Are Humans the Scariest Monsters? 107
Mariya Dvoskina

15 Self-Deception and Moral Failure in The Last of Us 113
Charles Joshua Horn

16 What Is It Like to Be a Clicker?: Consciousness and Cognition in The Last of Us 121
Lucas Hinojosa-Lopez and Remis Ramos Carreno

17 Global Indigenous Philosophy: Remembering the "Us" 129
Matthew Crippen

Part V The Humanity of The Last of Us 139

18 Better to Be Socrates Dissatisfied Than an Infected Satisfied?: Happiness, Flourishing, and the Good Life in The Last of Us 141
Steve Bein

19 Aesthetics at the End of the World: Uncanny Objects in The Last of Us 149
Enea Bianchi

20 Meaning and Emotion in the Music of The Last of Us 156
Lance Belluomini

21 "Some Folks Call This Thing Here a Gee-Tar": Music Making, Duende, Schopenhauer, and Reconciliation in The Last of Us Part II 164
Per F. Broman

22 Humor and Human Intimacy in The Last of Us 172
Michael K. Cundall Jr.

Part VI Religious Considerations at the End of the World 179

23 God as a Survival Tool: Religion in a World of Desperation 181
Federico Dal Barco

24 "I Don't Think I Can Ever Forgive You for That": Forgiving the Unforgivable in The Last of Us 188
Peter Admirand

Index 195