Jennifer Hart Weed

Can you find philosophy in a fast-pacing action series? Yes you can... Interesting and thought-provoking essays on moral philosophy, righteous wars, post-modernism and the similarities between .24. and Shakespeare's Othello...

This collection of philosophical essays takes on the daunting task of intelligently discussing the academic merits of mostly non-academic material while also trying to appeal to both casual and hardcore fans of the show it discusses. In the end, it hits the mark, but only sparingly.

The problem is perhaps best seen in Randall Jensen's essay, the first "proper" essay of the lot. Though he works hard to highlight the salient points of moral dilemmas and the basics of moral philosophy -- because show more the book wisely recognizes that depth must be sacrificed for breadth -- his voice too often slips into that of an obvious fan. This move undermines the seriousness of his study, and makes it feel as if the book is geared too much towards simply attentive 24-watchers.

Not all the essays suffer, however, from this deficiency, particularly the ones later in the volume. Robert Arp and John Carpenter, for instance, argue interestingly on the implementation of objectification, and Paul Cantor's discussion of the Shakespeare-esque "Double Time" of the show are as lucid and convincing as most other pieces of literary analysis.

The book's real strength, though, is its attempt at using 24 to indoctrinate new potential students of philosophy. Moral dilemmas, the ethics of torture, war, luck, and other basic but prominent philosophical topics arise here -- though moral philosophy is, understandably, the focus. The range of discussions, while often contributing to the book's inconsistency, makes it both useful and accessible.

The serious student is not likely to find a whole lot of usefulness in this volume, but I also don't think it's geared in that way. For that reason, though it has almost as many hits as it has misses, this book is still an enlightening and fascinating read. show less