Investigating the trail of philosophical leads in HBO s chilling True Detective series, an elite team of philosophers examine far-reaching riddles including human pessimism, Rust s anti-natalism, the problem of evil, and the flat circle .

Introduction: Welcome to the Psychosphere ix Jacob Graham and Tom Sparrow Part I “It’s All One Ghetto, Man … a Giant Gutter in Outer Space”: Pessimism and Anti-natalism 1 1 Why Life Rather than Death? Answers from Rustin Cohle and Arthur Schopenhauer 3 Sandra Shapshay 2 Grounding Carcosa: Cosmic Horror and Philosophical Pessimism in True Detective 11 Christopher Mountenay 3 Hart and Cohle: The Hopeful Pessimism of True Detective 22 Joshua Foa Dienstag 4 Loving Rust’s Pessimism: Rationalism and Emotion in True Detective 31 Rick Elmore 5 Rust’s Anti-natalism: The Moral Imperative to “Opt Out of a Raw Deal” 42 Chris Byron Part II “we Get the World We Deserve”: Cruelty, Violence, Evil, and Justice 53 6 Where Is the Cruelty in True Detective? 55 G. Randolph Mayes 7 Nevermind: Subjective and Objective Violence in Vinci 65 Luke Howie 8 Naturalism, Evil, and the Moral Monster: The Evil Person in True Detective 76 Peter Brian Barry 9 “But I Do Have a Sense of Justice”: Law and Justice in the Bleak World of Vinci 87 Beau Mullen Part III “everybody’s Nobody”: Consciousness, Existence, and Identity 97 10 A Dream Inside a Locked Room: The Illusion of Self 99 Evan Thompson 11 I Am Not Who I Used to Be, But Am I Me? Personal Identity and the Narrative of Rust 108 Andrew M. Winters 12 “The Light Is Winning” 120 Sarah K. Donovan 13 The Tragic Misstep: Consciousness, Free Will, and the Last Midnight 132 Daniel P. Malloy Part IV “this Is My Least Favorite Life”: Noir, Tragedy, and Philosopher-detectives 143 14 The Tragedy of True Detective Season Two: Living Our “Least Favorite Lives” 145 Alison Horbury 15 The Noir Detective and the City 158 Chuck Ward 16 Cohle and Oedipus: The Return of the Noir Hero 169 Daniel Tutt Part V “Time Is a Flat Circle”: Time in True Detective 177 17 Time Is a Flat Circle: Nietzsche’s Concept of Eternal Recurrence 179 Lawrence J. Hatab 18 Eternal Recurrence and the Philosophy of the “Flat Circle” 186 Paul A. DiGeorgio Known Associates 196 Index 201

Does the world need bad men? Does Rust really know who he is? Is the light winning? And why life rather than death? As arguably one of the most existential flagship series in modern times, True Detective's spine-chilling storylines have attracted a fervently questioning fan-base, alongside significant online coverage and fan sites, inspiring substantial philosophical debate from both fans and serious philosophers alike. True Detective and Philosophy delves into the many existential and ethical questions that arise in this darkly complex, character-driven series. Investigating the deep philosophical issues behind the show's characters and engrossing narratives, these eighteen original essays explore questions that include: Why Life Rather Than Death? Cosmic Horror and Hopeful Pessimism, the Illusion of Self, Noir, Tragedy, Philosopher-Detectives, and more. Essential reading for fans and philosophers, the stimulating chapters in True Detective and Philosophy accessibly explore the deeper meanings behind this genre-expanding crime show.