04 June 2003

Fear and Loathing in Sunnydale

Katherine returns tonight from the Tiger Cruise. Color me excited.

A package from my dad came yesterday containing a copy of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. Dre, being a good pal, mentioned a few weeks ago that she had seen it in the bookstore and almost got it for me, but I told her that my dad had already ordered it so not to bother. (Thanks, anyways, though.) The first essay was about the moral code of Buffy and Angel, saying that it follows “eudaimonism,” a systems of ethics first put forth by Plato. Basically it says that people who do good lead happier lives than people who do bad, and that good people are only happy when doing good. Argue with it as you will, but the author did a pretty good job of juxtoposing Buffy, who even though she isn’t happy all the time knows that she’s doing the right thing, with Faith, who goes to the dark side and realizes how empty her life is. The essay also references The Ring of Gyges from The Republic, which is a very neat moral polemic.

Also in the package was a $50 US savings bond from my grandmother that was given to me when I was 3 months old. Later in the week I’ll figure out how to cash it and put it into my “Dave’s about to spend way too much money on electronics because he’s been so poor for so long and wants to pamper himself” fund.