#philosophy in doctor who

[roxannepolice]

I think one of the most headscratching to me aspects of thoschei fan interpretations - and to be fair, writing, lately - is the chaos-order thing. That's probably because both the writers and the fandom immediately slap moral values on what are fundamentally amoral states. There can be disagreements about which is good and which is bad and which character is which as a result of the moral association, but like. It's always about what the show is trying to tell you is the better way to live because "What would the Doctor do" has become an unironic life coaching advice.

Meanwhile, from philosophical, physical and cognitive perspective it's been spelled out by Eight:

I love humans. Always seeing patterns in things that aren't there.

and Ten:

No, but that's what you do. The human race makes sense out of chaos. Marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars. This whole process is beautiful, but only if it's being observed.

and Terry Pratchett:

Things just happen, one after another. They don't care who knows. But history...ah, history is different. History has to be observed. Otherwise it's not history. It's just...well, things happening one after another.

and Hesiod:

First it was Chaos, and next broad-bosomed Earth.

Chaos isn't eviler because scary and ununderstandable nor is it gooder because society wants to me do stuff, man. It's more primordial. It's the objective state of things without a subject to perceive them. Yes, there are patterns in nature, but they are results of working least bad in the evolution's infinite monkeying, not some unique order.

What I'm saying is, when you think of chaos snd order as ontological concepts rather than moral admonishments, it becomes borderline incomprehensible how you could look either at a character who delights in a species obsessed with evoking order out of chaos or a character who's whole shtick is control and scheming and say yup, one of these is totally into chaos.

#sigh another thing i blame on moffat's love of using words without considering what they mean #that chibs doubled down on in general rejection of abstract thinking as hegemonic i guess #anyway saw this discourse appear on my dash and needed to vent #doctor who #the doctor #the master #dw meta #philosophy in doctor who #thoschei #doctor x master

[darkpastelpurple]

yo I'm gonna get philosophical on ya for a hot sec so buckle in

Doctor Who ... as a cultural monument, is absolutely beautiful

Let's strip this down to its basics, the bare minimum

This is a creative work spanning longer than some countries have been alive.

It's told every story there is to tell under the sun in its' 60 year reign of existence, some of them twice

hell, some of them thrice

let's add a layer in

This show tells of a man, the same man, the same continual man through every iteration.

This is not a show with a Cast of Characters at its heart, this is a show with one man, one man who you can know all there is to know about them in one word

He's simple

so simple

He's a Doctor

but, simply by virtue of Going Outside, getting involved, existing, slowly builds up a legend, a mythos

He wanders, a nobody, some dude in a box, but by virtue of wandering, of getting involved, of talking to people, his echoes have become ripples have become waves have become Universal Events.

He is no one special.

The one advantage he has over anyone is time.

Just that

time and the ability to move through it

Worlds eventually get caught in his wake

Demons bend the knee to his command

Paradoxes form around his life.

He's the most complicated person in the universe

He's so simple

He's what any of us would become, left to wander, I think.

If we kept hope.

He's just some guy

#doctor who #philosophy #Peter capaldi #ncuti gatwa #david tennant #russell t davies #steven moffat #christopher eccleston #chris chibnall #jodie whittaker #10th doctor #the 9th doctor #9th doctor #12th doctor #11th doctor #13th doctor #14th doctor #15th doctor #matt Smith

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

i think when the doctor says stuff that contradicts their own life like "ive never been this far out" it's not lying or poor continuity, i think it's just memory

#i tell accidental lies about my own life and experiences daily #and im only 25 #how the fuck is the doctor expected to remember all that #and even if theyve done it before #but dont remmeber #even if its not like evil mindwipe dont remember but just. regular. it's been 1000 years dont remember #if it feels to them like its the first time then for all intents and purposes of that line it is the first time #right? #i suppose thats up to your philosophy but according to mine #then it is the first time #also i think as a writer you have to pick and choose what continuities to honour or you'll drive yourself mad #i dont actually know if this particular one line was incorrect #i just think ive seen someone say so #but like im not actually entirely sure what the difference is between like #the end of the universe or the end of time or between universes or Whatever #so #what is 'farther out' who knows not me

[ak800]

me, through gritted teeth: your friends find you neither boring nor cringe

me, shaking: you don‘t need to be exceptional to be worth of love and compassion

me, three second away from screaming: try to be nice but more importantly be kind

#life advice #philosophy #i guess #the second one is inspired by #barbie movie #and the last one #is more or less from #Doctor Who

[nthflower]

Doctor before Human doodle.

#luciana estevez #kekkai sensen #n.a #fanart #I am really obsessed with her philosophy about saving lives without discriminating #It's not about her being someone like Pollyanna and full of love to everybody. She has emotions and human feelings. #But she will ignore her own feelings and humanity over her doctor responsibilities and even to help the terrible horrible monsters equally #Because otherwise she would have responsibility of being human with godlike healing powers who is the sole decider of who lives and who dies #because being human means making mistakes which is unacceptable to her as a doctor who saves lives #which is horrible and a heavier responsibility to have #anyways i talked a lot #i just decided she is my fave side character and discovered basic philosophical comcepts in my mind again while thinking about her

[writers-block05]

Gender

I'm writing a paper right now for school and the Inquiry Question (IQ) that inspired it is "What is gender, and why do we as a society put so much pressure on labeling it exactly?"

I do not know where to start as the first thing I need to do is define gender. I myself have not been able to do so in my 18 years, and I highly doubt that I will be able to do so within these next few months as I write this paper.

I have decided that for the purpose of this paper, I will view gender the same way The Doctor views time; "a big ball of wibbily wobbily timey wimey stuff". As I conduct my research, I have come to the realization that my IQ will require a lot of unraveling as gender is such a large and complex knot of culture, religion, society, psychology, and philosophy.

I am posting this to conduct research. I want to hear about other people's experiences with gender. I want to hear from anyone and everyone with how they view gender. Please let me know. I am so so curious.

#transgender #gender #lgbtq #lgbt #doctor who #culture #religion #society #psychology #philosophy #gender identity #gender labels #trans #ftm #mtf

[lil-tumbles]

So I'm supposed to be doing homework rn but instead I typed out an A4 essay about how the two shows "Doctor Who" and "The Good Place" each represent alternate ideas on what you can do when you reach that depressing conclusion that the universe doesn't care.

This is based on humanistic psychology and existential philosophy. I did not read it before I printed it out. I am now making notes on it in biro, and will turn this in to my philosophy and psychology teachers probably when I start the new school I'm doing all this homework for. Just want my new teachers to understand the level of mental illness they're dealing with here.

Oh and here's the essay. Consider this a first draft:

G!rl help now I'm even more mentally ill about this

#dw #doctor who #my writing #autism #Whovian #existential philosophy #the good place #chidi #eleanor shellstrop #chidi anagonye #the doctor #davros #Missy #the master #Lila's writing #humanistic psychology

[chilope]

FUCK i think i might have been cringe today

#was working with the new guy (who has been around for years but we never got a chance to work together before he started) #so we were doing a lot of the typical 'getting to know each other' stuff #and sometimes (often) ((always)) i add too much context to explain myself #so i said things like 'i try really hard not be judgemental and have a live and let live philosophy!' #and 'back when i was homeless-' #and 'so why did you decide not to become a doctor?' (DONT ASK PEOPLE THIS) #i can never go back

[pyrobellydancer]

I really liked this line. Distilled a lot of thought into one phrase.

#dr who #old who #grandfather #og who #Doctor who #AI #robots #philosophy #ethics

[roxannepolice]

I guess brainrot over the idea of an ineffable husbands style tensimm kiss won't let me sleep so.

I think, leaving aside the general collective unconscious and David Tennant in a telepathic mode of transport, the main reason the dynamic hit as so similar is this kind of. Absolute versus relational morality? I mean, this is what's on the deepest level, because the most apparent aspect is the idea that one of these semi immortal entities believes the other can be kind of restored to the state of goodness? And not just this person specifically, I think Aziraphale in general and the Doctor mainly as Twelve tbh just have this worldview where good is somehow definite and in a way natural for the universe? Oh yes, Twelve will be making speeches about whether he's a good man but the very asking of such a question implies "good man" is something definite, something that one can be. And oh yes there may be villains and monsters but you know if we all just sat down and talked then sure everything could be figured out. And this is more obvious than ever in his attitude towards Missy, where y'know. She just never heard the music. Whatever that metaphor means. Just as Aziraphale assumes Crowley can just be restored to the angelic status, because sure it was just a misunderstanding right he means he's not actually evil right? In a sense, pre-time angelicness and childhood are parallel in that they both assume a mind that hasn't developed individuality yet and I guess this is why Moffat is obsessed with throwing children at the audience 24/7.

And I find it fascinating that where everyone sees Aziraphale is wrong (or, indeed just needs to figure out Heaven is evil), Twelve's clockwork orange vault is generally hailed as reaching out to the truth behind the Master that Missy got closer to than any regeneration we've seen. For some reason, because sure as hell not because of anything that happened in EOT. And that's writing for you: if it's intelligent enough you'll look at something fundamentally similar and see completely different things.

Now, Crowley and the Master have more relational relational ethics - and relational is not the same as relative. And sure as hell don't think the universe or any individual will "naturally" veer towards good. In fact, they're both pretty cynical about, at least human, nature. Difference is Crowley needs to get drunk from Spanish inquisition, while the Master thoroughly enjoys letting future humans go murder their ancestors for fun. I mean, Missy even calls the Doctor out for his absolute and sentimental idea of good, except that's framed as her being in the wrong. And then there's the whole "Paradise. You've destroyed paradise! - They were lazy. I made them hungry" exchange between War and Saxon Masters in Masterful. Serpent in Eden, anyone?

And I think that this is why tensimm give off those vibes that they were closer to understanding each other than ever before. Obviously, the moral divide is still there, as it has to be, but I think Ten, especially in EOT, is more aware of how easily one can slip into a vengeful god, and all this to SAVE someone, than ever before. So while the moral divide is arguably widest it's ever been, the perceptual differences between the Doctor and the Master are almost gone in those episodes. And I suppose the metaphor of the Doctor hearing the drums is pretty pertinent here.

Now, before there's any accusation of moral nihilism on my part - no, there isn't. I specifically wrote of moral relationality not relativism. An action or attitude can be good or evil, the thing is that every individual exists in a net of their relations to others that they can't get out of through spontaneous epiphany. And at the same time the idea of absolute good is necessary, precisely because the general momentum is towards... the opposite. At the same time, there is nothing vile that hasn't been done in the name of higher good. Again, dialectics.

Which is why I say the Master (the Simm!Master, reduced as he was) fell where he stood no less that the Doctor in season 10. Like, this absolutely wasn't the intended point and I still say the mutual suicide was peak contrivance, but. work's intent. And all of this goes back to platonists vs. sophists, you know.

So anyway, it's still Ten that desperately grabs Saxon's lapels and kisses him in hopes of making him stay where they can be happy together.

#am i making any sense #prolly nit it's one of those cases where my brain won't shut up until i let it scream #anyway #doctor who meta #good omens meta #doctor who x good omens #the doctor #tenth doctor #twelth doctor #the master #simm!master #gomez!master #thoschei #ineffable husbands #philosophy in doctor who

[nonage4life]

*in the doctors voice* It’s not where we are but what may I hope

#immanuel kant #philosophy #critique of pure reason #doctor who

[ayakashibackstreet]

I need to protect my 60-something year old professor from this weird guy sitting in the back and being a real pain. What is his problem? Leave my little guy alone

#he's in a Philosophy of Linguistics class arguing that philosophy is stupid and doesn't exist #which........... #why are you here? #he looks older than us #potentially in his late 30s-40s #is he a fellow lecturer? is he a doctoral student? #he doesn't seem to know much about linguistics either? #who the fuck is this?? #my prof looks kinda uncomfortable? #and this angel of a man is clearly getting very irritated #I've never seen him like this #sir.... I'm so sorry......... #you're coming out with a face from this though. that other guy is a clown

[theangelshavethephonebox]

"on the origin of monsters"

A mini-essay type thing based on WBY thoughts. My 25th work, and it's posted on the 25th day of December! Merr xrosis for all who gebralraye

#doctor who #dr who #dw #wild blue yonder #philosophy #ao3 #dr who fanfic #doctor who fanfiction #dw fanfiction

[incorrectquotesideas-deactivated]

Person A, reading the pre-written eulogy Person B wrote to them: “Hi, I’m Person A. Gee, I hope I don’t roll this eulogy up and smoke it.” Is that what you really think of me? I’m not just a drug guy, you know? I speak latin!

Person C: Yeah, sure.

Person D: Yeah, dude, you love weed, we get it.

#source: inside job #incorrect quotes #incorrect quotes prompts #tw: drug mention #incorrect quotes ideas #i get A (andre) so much fr like bitch i’m not just the addict high 24/7 who sells u stuff. i speak 3 languages. i’m a doctor #i’m a young anesthesiology progeny. know everything ab pharmacology. AND while i was learning to do surgery i was also a philosophy major #at the same time. AND WHILE HIGH 24/7! i’m better st brain surgery while high on ketamine than some ppl are sober. that should count for smt #(i’m rambling about it cause i’m drunk sorry. branching out cause morphines just too expensive rn!) #((i don’t actually do surgery while high. i have Morals i guess.)) #tw drugs #(and mostly i’m too dehydrated to do ketamine or opiates. i can’t explain i just like Feel too dehydrated sometimes) #(i touch my skin and im like. jesus i can’t have key rn or i’ll hurt all over — my knees and just whole body hurt idk — I KNOW alcohol #dehydrates u too Dont ASK me ab it idk!!!!!!)

[greetings-inferiors]

But I will say I disagree with what jacob said about role models, ESPECIALLY with fictional characters.

Even if your role model is someone you don’t know, and even if they’re actually a bad person irl, that doesn’t matter because that’s not the part that’s your role model. If your role model is a footballer who puts in effort and you look up to him, but you find out that he sexually abused his partner, that’s awful but that doesn’t mean you idolise his bad actions, y’know?you’re idolising the person you see not the person they actually are.

With fictional characters it’s even less true because the person you see is the person they are. My role model, for example, is the doctor, specifically the eleventh and twelfth incarnations, because their personalities and philosophies closely align with my own. And the thing is, I do know the doctor, because I’ve seen him struggle, I’ve seen him grow, I went on all those adventures with him and we grew together. Do I idolise Matt smith and Peter capaldi? No, I’m sure they’re lovely, but they aren’t the doctor. They portrayed him and were the vessel for me to know the doctor, but they’re not my doctor. Even Steven moffat, who created the doctor, wrote everything he said, devised every situation the doctor found himself in, isn’t the doctor. More like the doctor’s father. And I don’t know them. But I do know the doctor.

I think jacob’s sentiment is good, your role model should be someone you know, but that doesn’t limit the role to just people in your life, because I know alpharad, I don’t know Jacob.

#alpharad #Jacob alpharad #doctor #the doctor #doctor who #Matt smith #Peter capaldi #steven moffat #11th doctor #eleven #eleventh doctor #12th doctor #twelfth doctor #role model #philosophy #long post

[killjoygem]

I think part of why I love twelve so much is because of his whole thing with kindness. Being kind is a really important thing to me too :)

I love the quote "I do what i do because its right! Because it's decent! And above all, it's kind"

#just reflecting on kindness #this quote plus ''what do you have to lose by treating people with kindness and respect'' from the good place #basically form my entire outlook on life and morality lol #doctor who #12th doctor #oh AND #how could i forget #''always try to be nice- never fail to be kind'' #literally my entire philosophy