The Philosophy of Taylor Swift

She's much more than a showgirl. Taylor Swift has long been celebrated as a masterful storyteller, but her songwriting is also full of deep philosophical reflection. Hidden beneath the gleaming surfaces of cliffside pools and the shattered edges of mirror balls are philosophical insights for the ages. It's easy to get lost in the labyrinth of her lyrics, but our philosophical guides are here to take you by the hand and lead you through the secret philosophical gardens in Swift's mind. It's worth it. As she tells us, she's only cryptic and Machiavellian because she cares.

The Philosophy of Taylor Swift gathers twenty-two original essays that illuminate the philosophical richness of Swift's catalogue. Written by philosophers with various areas of expertise--including ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of science--and bringing to bear the passion of a fan for an obsessive deep-dive into Swift's music and lyrics, this book of friendly but rigorous essays treats Swift not merely as a pop icon but as a serious intellectual interlocutor. Contributors use philosophy's unique toolkit to analyze her songwriting, showing that she can play ball with Aristotle and that her words are worth much more than meets the cynical eye.

For philosophers, the volume offers a methodologically innovative approach to popular culture, demonstrating how an artist's lyrics can sustain substantive philosophical inquiry. For Swifties, it offers new lenses through which to understand the themes that animate Swift's music: accountability and forgiveness, ambition and vulnerability, moral injury and revenge, love in its many registers, and the search for meaning in a complicated world.

The result is a vibrant, interdisciplinary exploration of one of the most distinctive and thought-provoking voices of the twenty-first century.

Lindsay Brainard is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She writes about the nature of creativity and its significance in human life. Her work has been published in journals such as Philosophers' Imprint and The Philosophical Quarterly and has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Ryan W. Davis is Associate Professor of Political Science at Brigham Young University. He writes about the value of autonomy in philosophy, political psychology, and religion. His work has appeared in journals such as Religious Studies, Journal of Politics, Journal of Political Philosophy, American Journal of Political Science, and Pacific Philosophical Quarterly.

Jessica Flanigan is Richard L. Morrill Chair in Ethics and Democratic Values at the University of Richmond. Her work appears in journals such as Philosophical Studies and Journal of Moral Philosophy. She is the author of Pharmaceutical Freedom, Debating Sex Work, and Libertarianism the Basics.