Motive, Moral Discourse, and Conflict in George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 15, 2026 · 20 MIN

Motive, Moral Discourse, and Conflict in George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire

from Sadler's Lectures · host Lectures on classic and contemporary philosophical texts and thinkers by Gregory B. Sadler

This is the recording of my presentation at the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association 2011 conference, applying Aristotelian moral theory to reading George R.R. Martin's series Song of Ice and Fire. In it, I argue that Martin articulates a essentially neo-Aristotelian view of human nature, characters, development, ethos and moral qualities, referencing selected events, characters, dialogues, monologues, and decisions from the narrative, I focus upon four aspects of a neo-Aristotelian view of moral life, character, and discourse, namely: community as sharing (koinonia) but also locus of conflict over moral qualities and judgments motivational interplays between interests, desires, loyalties, and common goods ethos reflected in both individual characters and houses characters’ choice and development as matters of better or worse practical reasoning towards and about the variety of human goods. To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3,500 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler You can get Martin's 5 volumes of the Song of Ice and Fire here - https://amzn.to/4sNAaRC

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Motive, Moral Discourse, and Conflict in George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire

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