Philosophy Smackdown! by Douglas Edwards (Live Reading)

From its carnival origins to its current status as a global phenomenon, pro wrestling has a unique presence in popular culture. Part sport and part theatre, the impressive antics of its larger-than-life characters have captured the imaginations of generations of fans, and prompted endless speculation about behind-the-scenes machinations.

Philosophy Smackdown is a study of pro wrestling as distinctive as pro wrestling itself: it is the first philosophical look at this major cultural spectacle. Philosopher and fan Douglas Edwards takes both philosophy and pro wrestling to parts unknown. With liveliness, humor, and insight, he shows that pro wrestling is fertile ground for reflection on fundamental human issues, such as reality, freedom, identity, morality, justice, and meaning. He explores these through pivotal events in pro wrestling, from the eighties heyday of Hulkamania to the recent emergence of AEW.

Philosophy Smackdown is a read that will delight philosophers and pro wrestling fans alike. It's time to ask yourself: Whatcha gonna do when Philosophy Smackdown runs wild on you?

Reviews:

“One of the best popular philosophy books I’ve ever read.” — Mark D. White, author of Batman and Ethics

“The book is billed as being about the philosophy of wrestling, but Edwards writes so well that you don’t need to know much about either topic to be drawn in. He takes six philosophical topics ― reality, freedom, identity, morality, justice, and meaning ― and investigates each one through the peculiar lens of pro wrestling. The result is far more entertaining than you might expect.” — Nigel Warburton, The Spectator

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome Everyone!

To join this meetup (every second Friday) it is perfectly OK if you know nothing about professional wrestling — you will easily be able to enjoy this meetup. But if you have watched a lot of Pro Wrestling, you might be able to understand the philosophy topics in an even deeper way.

Of your 2 hosts, Philip has seen almost no Pro Wrestling events while David has seen plenty.

The author Douglas Edwards is a very serious and well respected philosopher. He has written a standard philosophy book outlining various theories of what Truth is. You may want to read this other book by Douglas Edwards (but it is not required for this meetup): The Metaphysics of Truth.

So, although Philosophy Smackdown! is obviously a fun book, it is a fun book written by a philosopher who has deep knowledge of the ways philosophers think about Truth. We will explore some very deep questions about the nature of Truth (while also of course having lots of fun).

In this meetup we will explore (amongst other things) the complicated way in which truth, honesty, trust and truth telling functions in the world of Pro Wrestling. It will be interesting to ask whether the notion of Truth that is at work in the world of Pro Wrestling applies in other areas of life as well.

Link to the book here: https://www.amazon.ca/Philosophy-Smackdown-Douglas-Edwards/dp/150953766X

Official website: https://philosophysmackdown.com/

The plan for this series is to meet every second Friday to read and discuss this book together.