Andraste's Gadfly: A Dragon Age and Philosophy Podcast

Kira and Jill are back! And this time it is all about Trust in Thedas. Can we trust our companions? (Blackwall, Anders and Solas, I’m looking at you!!) Is DA 2 told by a reliable narrator? Can we trust the history we learn through all the codex entries? There are so many codex entries? Why […]

In this episode, Kira and Jill examine some more mini moral dilemmas: The treatment of Loghain at the end of DAO, the treatment of Anders at the end of DA2 and the treatment of the Wardens after the Adamant quest in DAI. We bring back some of the ethical theories from our first episode (Consequentialism, […]

In this episode, Kira and Jill discuss the way gender is represented across all three Dragon Age games. We consider character creation, gender roles and gender and power in Thedas, the performance of gender in the game, and gender identity. References: de Beauvoir, Simone (1953) The Second Sex, translated by H.M. Parshley, New York: Knopf. […]

In this episode Kira and Jill discuss personal identity and sense of self as presented in the Dragon Age games. From Anders and Justice, to Flemith and Mythal to Cole’s transformation from spirit-like to human-like, questions regarding identity are peppered throughout these games. Over and over in the games we are invited to ask what […]

In this episode, Kira and Jill examine depictions of oppression and resistance in the Dragon Age games. We draw on the works of Marilyn Frye for understanding oppression. We also draw on standpoint theory, a feminist theory of knowledge developed by Donna Haraway, Sandra Harding and Nancy Hartsock among others. Finally, we draw on epistemologies […]

In this episode we examine the ways that love, sex, romance and relationships are presented in Dragon Age 2. We apply the Ancient Philosophical concepts of Eros, Agape and Philia to examine different representations of love in the game. And we discuss Sex Negative Feminism, Sex Positive Feminism, and the Gender Binary to examine ways […]

In this episode we examine what we like to call “mini moral dilemmas”. We look at three moral dilemmas that occur across the three Dragon Age games. We apply three ethical theories: Kantian Deontology, Utilitarianism, and Ethics of Care in order to illustrate what makes these moral dilemmas genuine dilemmas and to illustrate how moral […]

Want to know what Andraste’s Gadfly is about? Here’s a bit of an introduction to the podcast of two philosophers who are slightly obsessed with the Dragon Age games!