When pop culture meets philosophy

“We have been organising philosophy workshops for students on a regular basis. We felt the concept would be just as interesting for adults as well and decided to try it out with a pop-philosophy workshop. For example, our second episode will use the conversation between Dumbledore and Harry Potter from the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Harry asks Dumbledore, “Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?” and he responds, “Of course, it is happening inside your head Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” questioning the concept of what’s real. 

Similarly, we use Rajnikanth’s Enthiran to talk about Artificial Intelligence. In the movie, Chitti never dies and we ask about the ethics of converting human intelligence into an algorithm which cannot die. People are already familiar with these pop culture references and using them makes it easier to relate to the philosophical concepts,” says Vishal V, founder of Warhorse. 

The five episodes are titled Questioning Everything, Red Pill Vs Blue Pill, It’s OK to be a Kant, Who/What/ Why Am I? and Al-Al-O. “The workshops are like a television series where each episode is independent. So, even if you miss one episode, it will not affect your understanding of the next. However, those who do attend all five workshops will be able to spot an underlying theme. The first episode will introduce the participants to some of the basic concepts of philosophy and to question everything they see, hear and believe. 

The second episode is based on Matrix and looks at what is real and what is not and the difference between knowledge and belief. The third episode is the most edgy. It uses superheroes, like Batman and Superman, to talk about ethics and what it means when we say ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. The fourth episode is about identity and personhood and the fifth episode deals with Artificial Intelligence,” he explains. 

Vishal adds that he is thrilled with the response for the workshop. “This is the first time we are hosting the Pop Philosophy workshop and the first episode is scheduled to happen on September 24, which will be handled by our trainer Siddharth. We initially thought most of the applicants would be college students and were expecting a crowd of 25- 30. However, it looks like we have to extend the number of applicants a bit more as registrations have been pouring in. The people applying belong to varied backgrounds, like assistant directors, transportation designers, teachers, entrepreneurs and architects.