Avatar: The Last Airbender and Philosophy: Wisdom from Aang to Zuko (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series)

Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Contributors: Drawing Wisdom from Many Different Places
Preface
Introduction: “We are all one people, but we live as if divided”
	Notes
Part I The Universe Of Avatar: The Last Airbender
	Chapter 1 Native Philosophies and Relationality in Avatar: The Last Airbender: It’s (Lion) Turtles All the Way Down
		The Benders: Defined by Their Bounded Space
		The People
		ATLA Universe
		Opening (Spirit) Portals
		Notes
	Chapter 2 Getting Elemental: How Many Elements Are There in Avatar: The Last Airbender?
		Fifth Element?
		One or Many
		Energy and Spirit
		Unity of the Elements
		Notes
	Chapter 3 The Personalities of Martial Arts in Avatar: The Last Airbender
		Water, Waterbending, and Taiji
		Earth, Earthbending, and Hong Jia Kung Fu
		Fire, Firebending, and Northern Shaolin Kung Fu
		Air, Airbending, and Baguazhang
		The Power of the Avatar
		The Wisdom of Combination
		Notes
	Chapter 4 The End of the World: Nationhood and Abolition in Avatar: The Last Airbender
		Naturally Real and Socially Real
		“Thinking Like an Airbender”: The Elements and Nations as Naturally Real
		Resisting Naturalization, Embracing Unity
		ATLA and Abolitionism
		Notes
	Chapter 5 The Bending World, a Bent World: Supernatural Power and Its Political Implications
		Might Is Right, Magnified
		Energybender Is Coming to Town
		A Specter Is Haunting the Bending World
		Notes
Part II Water
	Chapter 6 Avatar: The Last Airbender and Anishinaabe Philosophy
		Anishinaabe Philosophy Defined
		The Water Tribe and Indigenous Representation
		Spirituality: Similar Ways of Seeing the World
		Notes
	Chapter 7 “Lemur!” – “Dinner!”: Human–Animal Relations in Avatar: The Last Airbender
		Sokka the Hunter
		Human Ends and Animals as Means
		Sokka-style: Meat, Sarcasm, and Empathy
		Aang’s Relations to Animals: Harmless Entertainment?
		No Harm, No Problem?
		Questioning Our Attitudes, Sokka-style
		Notes
	Chapter 8 On the Moral Neutrality of Bloodbending
		The Origins of Bloodbending
		Bloodbending as Advanced Waterbending?
		The Martial Arts Basis of Waterbending and Bloodbending
		The Nature of Bloodbending as Depending on the Character of a Person
		Bending That Saves Life
		Notes
	Chapter 9 On the Ethics of Bloodbending: Why Is It So Wrong and Can It Ever Be Good?
		What Is Bloodbending?
		What Makes Bloodbending Bad?
		Kant and Using as Mere Means
		Does Bloodbending Violate Kant’s Principle?
		Can Bloodbending Ever Be Permissible?
		What if Hama Was Wrong?
		Notes
	Chapter 10 Mystical Rationality
		Sokka, the Villagers, and Aunt Wu
		Expected Utility Theory
		The Rationality of Wearing Red Shoes
		Generalizing to Other Cases
		Wrapping Up
		Appendix
		Notes
	Chapter 11 “I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me”: Repairing the World Through Care
		Care Ethics
		Katara, a Master of Care
		Care and Political Goals of the Gaang
		Repairing Our Worlds
		Notes
	Chapter 12 Spirits, Visions, and Dreams: Native American Epistemology and the Aang Gaang
		“Knowledge . . . is priceless” (Professor Zei, “The Library”)
		“You have no idea where you’re going, do you?” (Sokka, “The Warriors of Kyoshi”)
		“It’s important to draw wisdom from many different places. If we take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale” (Uncle Iroh, “Bitter Work”)
		“The past can be a great teacher” (Aang, “The Firebending Masters”)
		“I knew I’d know it when I knew it” (King Bumi, “Sozin’s Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters”)
		Notes
Part III Earth
	Chapter 13 Time Is an Illusion: Time and Space in the Swamp
		Calling from the Swamp: A Mystical Place
		Past, Present, Future: Soul, Mind, and Time
		Everything Is Connected: From Unity to Multiplicity
		Avatar: The Reunion of Multiplicity
		Notes
	Chapter 14 There Is No Truth in Ba Sing Se: Bald-faced Lies and the Nature of Lying
		Fire Nation Disguises and False Statements: Deception, Misleading, and Lying
		Brainwashed Beliefs: Why Falsity Is Not Enough
		The Great Divide Between True and False Beliefs
		Sharp Outfits and Fortunes Told: Metaphors, Bullshit, and Lies
		Bald-faced Lies in Ba Sing Se
		Trust and Truth
		Notes
	Chapter 15 The Rocky Terrain of Disability Gain in Avatar: The Last Airbender: Is Toph a Supercrip Stereotype or a Disability Pride Icon?
		How and Why #RepresentationMatters
		Disability Pain and Disability Gain: Models of Disability and Well-being
		The Master Narrative of the Supercrip: Overcoming Disability with Talent and Pluck
		The Proud Disabled Person as Counterstory
		Notes
	Chapter 16 The Earth King, Ignorance, and Responsibility
		Walls: Creating Order and . . . Barriers
		Must Resist Knowing Any Different
		The Buck Stops Here
		Notes
	Chapter 17 The Middle Way and the Many Faces of Earth
		Earth Is Earth Is Earth Is Earth?
		Neither/Nor
		Earth’s Many Ways
		What Can We Learn?
		Notes
Part IV Fire
	Chapter 18 The Battle Within: Confucianism and Legalism in the Nation, the Family, and the Soul
		The Fire Lord’s Legalist Philosophy
		Censure and Legalist Education
		The Phoenix King
		Zuko’s Confucian Schooling
		Confucianism Confronts Legalism
		Confucianism and Family
		Zuko’s Legacy
		Every Soul Experiences the Battle Within
		Notes
	Chapter 19 Not Giving Up on Zuko: Relational Identity and the Stories We Tell
		Personhood as a Social Practice
		Zuko’s Stories
		Personhood and Redemption
		Opening Up Possibilities
		Notes
	Chapter 20 Uncle Iroh, From Fool to Sage – Or Sage All Along?
		Iroh as a Zhuangzian Wise Fool
		Viewers Appreciate That Iroh Is Wise from the Beginning
		A Zhuangzian Sage All Along
		Notes
	Chapter 21 Being Bad at Being Good: Zuko’s Transformation and Residual Practical Identities
		Aspiration, Transformation, and Practical Identity
		Family, Shame, and Honor (Book One)
		“It’s time for you to decide”: Inheriting, Finding, and Choosing Destiny (Book Two)
		Being Bad at Being Good: Rethinking Honor and Destiny (Book Three)
		Becoming Good at Being Good
		Notes
	Chapter 22 Compassion and Moral Responsibility in Avatar: The Last Airbender: “I was never angry; I was afraid that you had lost your way”
		Anger, Blame, and Responsibility
		Katara and the Uses and Misuses of Angry Blame
		Iroh and Compassionate Responses to Wrongdoing
		Zuko, Self-blame, and Self-compassion
		Sometimes We Can Let Go
		Notes
Part V Air
	Chapter 23 The Fire Nation and the United States: Genocide as the Foundation for Empire Building
		Forging an Empire
		Genocide as Empire-building
		Appropriating History and Place
		Silent Wounds
		Notes
	Chapter 24 Anarchist Airbenders: On Anarchist Philosophy in Avatar: The Last Airbender
		What Is Anarchism?
		What Do Anarchists Believe?4
		There Are No Unjust Hierarchies in Ba Sing Se
		Human Nature and Mutual Aid
		The Anarchist You Are
		Notes
	Chapter 25 A Buddhist Perspective on Energy Bending, Strength, and the Power of Aang’s Spirit
		Powerful Vulnerability
		Unbendable Spirit
		Strength and Vulnerability
		Fearlessness and Power
		Notes
	Chapter 26 Ahimsa and Aang’s Dilemma: “Everyone . . . [has] to be treated like they’re worth giving a chance”
		Ethical Dilemmas
		Air Nomad Philosophy
		Avataric Philosophy
		Overcoming Dilemmas
		Notes
	Chapter 27 The Avatar Meets the Karmapa: Interconnections, Friendship, and Moral Training
		Can the Avatar or the Karmapa Have Friends?
		Moral Training: A Shared Journey
		Alienation, Betrayal, and Repentance: Zuko’s Path to Team Avatar
		Journey’s End and a Vision of a New Community
		Notes
Index
EULA