The HBS hosts talk about mysteries as both a literary and philosophical form.

In Episode 12 of Hotel Bar Sessions, Leigh, Ammon, and Shannon take on mysteries as both a literary and philosophical form. Is the world in itself a mystery that science and philosophy take different routes to try to solve? How do luck, logic, empirical investigation, and intuition all work together to make sense of the world? What would a solution even look like? Are philosophers basically just detectives? Is a crime requisite to initiate investigations in mysteries? Is the unknown connected to Aristotle’s idea that philosophy begins in wonder? Is the mystery genre mostly a battle of reason over unreason? What do philosophers need to do to find new ways to ask questions about the mysteries of the world? Tune in as Ammon tries to convince Leigh and Shannon to watch a six-hour Danish mystery to mixed results. 

For further exploration, check out the links below:

• Ernst Bloch was captivated by the mystery genre, as discussed in “A Philosophical View of the Detective Novel.” 
• Philip K. Zimmerman talks about how Wittgenstein was also fascinated by detective novels.
• Turns out, Gilles Deleuze was also interested in crime novels.
• “Did Edgar Allan Poe Create The Modern Mystery Genre?” The Torch Podcast looks into this question. 
• Check out a helpful exposition on the relation between the nineteenth century gothic novel and nineteenth century conceptions of epistemology and reason.
• The Leigh Johnson Mystery on The Prestige in philosophy. Christopher Nolan’s movie The Prestige is the inspiration for this connection.
• Ammon’s love of obscure, subtitled mysteries can be understood by watching the Danish crime mini-series, The Investigation. 
• For more on the idea of the philosopher as detective and Columbo as the quintessential philosopher-detective.
• HBO’s The Night Of shows how mysteries can be turned into greater investigations of structural inequities, as does The Wire.
• Anita McChesney asks what becomes of detective fiction in the “post-truth” world.
• Is it always just the orangutan or a monkey’s paw?