Call for Abstracts



Justified and Philosophy

Edited by Rod Carveth and Robert Arp: robertarp320@gmail.com

Justified and Philosophy will be a book in Open Court Publishing Company’s Popular Culture and Philosophy Series: link.

- Papers must frequently refer to characters, events, and stories in Justified, the popular and critically acclaimed TV series on FX

- Submit abstracts of no more than 300 words to: robertarp320@gmail.com

- Abstracts due: January 15, 2014

- Notification of accepted abstracts: January 20, 2014

- First drafts of papers due: February 15, 2014 (we’re moving quickly through production on this book)

- 3,000 to 3,500-word philosophy papers are written in a conversational style for a lay audience


Any relevant topic considered, but here are some possibilities:



- A moral analysis of Raylan’s controversial, but "justified," quick-draw shooting of mob hit man, Tommy Bucks

- Utilitarianism and “Cleaning Up Harlan”

- Raylan as Kantian deontologist?

- Is it ever moral to enforce your own brand of justice (in your Kentucky hometown)?

- Professional Ethics: Raylan as marshal and bounty hunter

- Corporate ethics and the actions of Black Pike

- Crime or coal? The conundrum of the residents of Harlan

- When is killing “justified?”

- Virtue ethics and honoring thy Father: Bo and Boyd and Raylan and Arlo

- Mags Bennett: virtue ethics, role models, and mother as monster

- “You do what you must to protect them, even when you know it’s wrong” Mags Bennett and Loretta

- The “frenemyship” of Raylan and Boyd

- Boyd, the existence of God, and signs from God

- Boyd and the value of religion in reforming someone’s wicked ways

- Religious themes in Justified

- A serious analysis of snake handling given the Justified character, Billy St. Cyr

- The definition and nature of evil

- Critical Race Theory and issues of race and identity on Justified

- Escape one’s past? Fatalism vs. determinism in Raylan’s relationship with Harlan

- Keeping out the foreigners: Harlan versus Detroit

- The Odd Triple: Ava, Boyd, and Raylan

- The Sins of the Father? Raylan’s upcoming fatherhood

- Balance in the soul: Can Raylan resist his darkest impulses?

- Raylan and Boyd: Who’s the Ego and Who’s the Id?

- Is Raylan Givens his own man?

- “Sometimes a hat is just a hat” Freud and Raylan’s Stetson

- Mens rea: Is Quarles legally responsible for his actions?

- What’s really in the wall? The mystery of Justified’s Season 4

- Epistemological considerations in the episode “Truth and Consequences”

- Justified true beliefs on Justified

- Flying too close to the sun: The fate of Nick Augustine



Justified and Philosophy will be a book in Open Court Publishing Company’s Popular Culture and Philosophy Series: link. Submit ideas for possible future PCP books to the series editor, George A. Reisch, at pcpideas@caruspub.com.



Thanks for your consideration.