Ender's Game and Philosophy: The Logic Gate is Down: 88

Is it ethical to use brilliant children as soldiers?

Can there ever really be peace between two completely different cultures?

Does Ender’s ‘final solution’ in the destruction of the ‘buggers’ accord with the ethics of conducting warfare?

Few books are considered to be both the best science fiction novel of all time, and useful for teaching actual military strategy. Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game is just such a book, depicting highly trained child geniuses saving the world from insect-like alien ‘buggers’. Timed for its release to coincide with the release of a motion picture adaptation of the novel, this book dissects key questions raised by Card and his legions of fans, including the ethics of child soldiers, the morality of tactics and technology in warfare, genocide, interspecies communication, and much more.

The contemporary relevance of Ender’s Game can hardly be overstated: until recently it was on the US Marine Corps professional reading list. This compelling collection unpicks the warp and woof of philosophical references that form the novel’s themes and narrative arc, and is a major addition to the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series. 

Is it ethical to use brilliant children as soldiers?

Can there ever really be peace between two completely different cultures?

Does Ender’s ‘final solution’ in the destruction of the ‘buggers’ accord with the ethics of conducting warfare?

Few books are considered to be both the best science fiction novel of all time, and useful for teaching actual military strategy. Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game is just such a book, depicting highly trained child geniuses saving the world from insect-like alien ‘buggers’. Timed for its release to coincide with the release of a motion picture adaptation of the novel, this book dissects key questions raised by Card and his legions of fans, including the ethics of child soldiers, the morality of tactics and technology in warfare, genocide, interspecies communication, and much more.

The contemporary relevance of Ender’s Game can hardly be overstated: until recently it was on the US Marine Corps professional reading list. This compelling collection unpicks the warp and woof of philosophical references that form the novel’s themes and narrative arc, and is a major addition to the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series.