Sons of Anarchy and Philosophy E-Book

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 455

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

"Brains before bullets" - ancient and modern wisdom for "mechanics and motorcycle enthusiasts" Essential reading for fans of the show, this book takes readers deeper into the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, the Teller-Morrow family, and the ethics that surround their lives and activities. * Provides fascinating moral insights into Sons of Anarchy, its key characters, plot lines and ideas * Investigates compelling philosophical issues centering on loyalty, duty, the ethics of war, authority, religion and whether the ends justify the means * Teaches complex philosophical ideas in a way that's accessible to the general interest reader in order to inspire them to further reading of the great philosophers * Authors use their deep knowledge of the show to illuminate themes that are not always apparent even to die-hard fans

Leseprobe

Contents

Introduction: “Gotta Look This Life in the Eye”

Acknowledgments: Thanks to the Reaper Crew

Part I: “AN EQUAL MIX OF MIGHT AND RIGHT”: ETHICS AT 92 MPH

CHAPTER 1: Virtue and Vice in the SAMCROpolis: Aristotle Views Sons of Anarchy

“Balance Between Might and Right”

“What Kind of Nasty Shit Did Your Momma Do to You?”

“A Unique Little Town”

“I’m Not Sure Which Cancer’s Worse: the One in Me or the One in Charming”

“It’s in You. It’s Who You Are”

Notes

CHAPTER 2: A Prospect’s Guide to Nietzsche

SAMCRO’s Master Morality

“A Student’s Prank”

“I’m Going to Bury These Assholes”

“The Good Guys Need a Win”

Why Do We Love These Criminals?

Notes

CHAPTER 3: Tig Needs an Escort Home: Is Loyalty a Virtue?

“What We Are”

“Rats Deserve to Die”

Can Loyalty Make Jax Do Bad Things?

A Virtuous Escort?

Notes

CHAPTER 4: A Saint among the Sons: Aquinas on Murder and the Men of Mayhem

Murder in Charming

The Cop and the Outlaw

God and “Mister Mayhem”

To Kill or To Be Killed: That Is the Question!

Murder Redux

Notes

Part II: “OFF THE SOCIAL GRID”: THE POLITICS OF MAYHEM

CHAPTER 5: SAMCRO versus the Leviathan: Laying Down the (Motor)Cycle of Violence

“Off the Social Grid”

“Not Violent by Nature”

“Nasty, Brutish, and Short”

“We All Want the Same Thing Here”

“Retaliation Must Be Harsh and Immediate”

Sons of Anarchy/Sons of Pride

Notes

CHAPTER 6: “The Rat Prince” and The Prince: The Machiavellian Politics of the MC

“True Freedom Requires Sacrifice and Pain”

“Blood Was Every Color”

“Some Kind of Balance”

“Strength Comes From Good Things”

Notes

CHAPTER 7: Chaos and Order: Anarchy in the MC

Sons of Anarchy, Not Chaos!

Anarchy 101

The “Rebellious Fire” of the First 9

Living Off the Social Grid

There’s No “I” in “Motorcycle Club”

Something’s Rotten …

Notes

CHAPTER 8: “Another Fun-Filled Day in the Six Counties”: The Real IRA–Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?

“They Think Every Act of Violence Is Their Republic Duty”

“We’re Not Merchants, We’re Soldiers”

“The All-Seeing, All-Knowing Wizard of East Belfast”

“Our Good Priest Getting a Might Too Godly for His Collar”

Terrorists, Freedom Fighters, and Thugs

Notes

CHAPTER 9: SAMCRO Goes to War

“I Don’t Recognize Your Bullshit MC”

“Can’t Get Used to Losing You”

“I Believe in Family”

“You Are a Fascist Pig”

Bad Guys or Good Guys?

Notes

Part III: “THE CONCEPT WAS PURE, SIMPLE, TRUE”: BIKER IDENTITY AND MEANING

CHAPTER 10: My Skin, My Self: SAMCRO’s Ink and Personal Identity

I “Ink,” Therefore I Am3

Badass Aesthetics

Indelible Images and Inexhaustible Meanings

“Fire or Knife?”

Nobody Wants to Be a Shithead

Notes

CHAPTER 11: The Faith of Our Sons and the Tragic Quest

The Tragedy of Jax Teller, Prince of Charming

The Soul of a Man

MC and MB: Hunters, Warriors, and Bikers

The Grim Face of the Sons of Anarchy

Hierophanies of Death: SOA’s Reaper and the Cult of Santa Muerte

The Tragic Flaws in the Faith of SAMCRO

Notes

CHAPTER 12: Once a Biker Slut, Always a Biker Slut: Narrative Identity in Charming

“What Have You Done With Tara?”

“Well, I Guess Someone’s True Colors Finally Bled Through”

“What Kind of Nasty Shit Did Your Momma Do to You?”: Tig’s Character

“I Got This”: Opie’s Promises

“Once a Biker Slut, Always a …”

The Death of John Teller and the Life of SAMCRO

Notes

CHAPTER 13: SAMCRO and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Zen and the Art of Brawling, Riding, and Picking Up Girls

Heidegger on Hand-Jobs

The Problem of Dirty, Oily Hands

Porn Stars and Other Mounts

The Buddha and the Biker

Notes

Part IV: “THE PASSION IN HIS HEART AND THE REASON IN HIS MIND”: SEX, LOVE, AND GENDER

CHAPTER 14: Sometimes a Motorcycle Is Just a Motorcycle: Freud and Hamlet Come to Charming

“What Kind of Nasty Shit Did Your Momma Do to You?”

“I Learned From the Best”

“It’s Just Fear and Greed Now”

What’s With All That Chain Smoking?

“Balance”

Notes

CHAPTER 15: When a Charming Woman Speaks

“She’s Just an Old Lady?”

“Family Is Everything”

“Men Need to Own Their Pussy”

“You Don’t Have a Normal Life, Baby—You Have This One”

Notes

CHAPTER 16: Mothers of Anarchy: Power, Control, and Care in the Feminine Sphere

“Gemma? She’s Just an Old Lady”

“God Wants Me to Be a Fierce Mother”

“My Job as Your Old Lady Is to Be Strong When and Where You Can’t Be”

Notes

Part V: “EACH SAVAGE EVENT WAS A CATALYST FOR THE NEXT”: THE HISTORIC AND THE HOMERIC

CHAPTER 17: Sons of History: How SAMCRO Lost and Found Its Way

“For Ten Years I Gave Up on this Club. Rode My Limit Just to Keep the Patch”

Time Wounds All Heals

“Who’s That Writin’?”

“The Past Is Never Dead. It’s Not Even Past”16

Notes

CHAPTER 18: Anarchism and Authenticity, or Why SAMCRO Shouldn’t Fight History

“I’m Looking Forward to Working with You, Mr. Marks”

Sons of Anarcho-Syndicalism

SAMCRO’s Class Struggle

“Shuffle on Back to Mayberry”

“We Got a Little History—Let’s Talk About the Present”

Notes

CHAPTER 19: Good Old Fashioned Mayhem

“I Got This”: The Way of the Warrior

Fighting Dirty: Brutality and Revenge

“God Wants Me to Be a Fierce Mother”

Laws of the Outlaws

Do Fear the Reaper

Notes

CHAPTER 20: The Road Out of Mayhem

Father of Anarchy

“You Can’t Sit in this Chair Without Being a Savage”

Plato Takes Abel Out of a Bad Environment

Aristotle versus the Outlaws

How Many Miles to Utopia?

Notes

Contributors: Philosophers of Mayhem

List of Episodes: The Life (and Death?) of Sam Crow

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Index

The Blackwell Philosophy and PopCulture Series

Series Editor: William Irwin

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, and a healthy helping of popular culture clears the cobwebs from Kant. Philosophy has had a public relations problem for a few centuries now. This series aims to change that, showing that philosophy is relevant to your life—and not just for answering the big questions like “To be or not to be?” but for answering the little questions: “To watch or not to watch South Park?” Thinking deeply about TV, movies, and music doesn’t make you a “complete idiot.” In fact it might make you a philosopher, someone who believes the unexamined life is not worth living and the unexamined cartoon is not worth watching.

Already published in the series:

24 and Philosophy: The World According to JackEdited by Jennifer Hart Weed, Richard Brian Davis, and Ronald Weed

30 Rock and Philosophy: We Want to Go to ThereEdited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski

Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy: Curiouser and CuriouserEdited by Richard Brian Davis

Arrested Development and Philosophy: They’ve Made a Huge MistakeEdited by Kristopher Phillips and J. Jeremy Wisnewski

The Avengers and Philosophy: Earth’s Mightiest ThinkersEdited by Mark D. White

Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the SoulEdited by Mark D. White and Robert Arp

Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Knowledge Here Begins Out ThereEdited by Jason T. Eberl

The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Aristotle, LockeEdited by Dean Kowalski

The Big Lebowski and Philosophy: Keeping Your Mind Limber with Abiding WisdomEdited by Peter S. Fosl

Black Sabbath and Philosophy: Mastering RealityEdited by William Irwin

The Daily Show and Philosophy: Moments of Zen in the Art of Fake NewsEdited by Jason Holt

Downton Abbey and Philosophy: The Truth Is Neither Here Nor ThereEdited by Mark D. White

Ender’s Game and Philosophy: The Logic Gate is DownEdited by Kevin S. Decker

Family Guy and Philosophy: A Cure for the PetardedEdited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski

Final Fantasy and Philosophy: The Ultimate WalkthroughEdited by Jason P. Blahuta and Michel S. Beaulieu

Game of Thrones and Philosophy: Logic Cuts Deeper Than SwordsEdited by Henry Jacoby

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy: Everything is FireEdited by Eric Bronson

Green Lantern and Philosophy: No Evil Shall Escape this BookEdited by Jane Dryden and Mark D. White

Heroes and Philosophy: Buy the Book, Save the WorldEdited by David Kyle Johnson

The Hobbit and Philosophy: For When You’ve Lost Your Dwarves, Your Wizard, and Your WayEdited by Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson

House and Philosophy: Everybody LiesEdited by Henry Jacoby

The Hunger Games and Philosophy: A Critique of Pure TreasonEdited by George Dunn and Nicolas Michaud

Inception and Philosophy: Because It’s Never Just a DreamEdited by David Johnson

Iron Man and Philosophy: Facing the Stark RealityEdited by Mark D. White

Lost and Philosophy: The Island Has Its ReasonsEdited by Sharon M. Kaye

Mad Men and Philosophy: Nothing Is as It SeemsEdited by James South and Rod Carveth

Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain SurgeryEdited by William Irwin

The Office and Philosophy: Scenes from the Unfinished LifeEdited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski

Sons of Anarchy and Philosophy: Brains Before BulletsEdited by George A. Dunn and Jason T. Eberl

South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something TodayEdited by Robert Arp

Spider-Man and Philosophy: The Web of InquiryEdited by Jonathan Sanford

Superman and Philosophy: What Would the Man of Steel Do?Edited by Mark D. White

Supernatural and Philosophy: Metaphysics and Monsters … for IdjitsEdited by Galen A. Foresman

Terminator and Philosophy: I’ll Be Back, Therefore I AmEdited by Richard Brown and Kevin S. Decker

True Blood and Philosophy: We Wanna Think Bad Things with YouEdited by George Dunn and Rebecca Housel

Twilight and Philosophy: Vampires, Vegetarians, and the Pursuit of ImmortalityEdited by Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski

The Ultimate Daily Show and Philosophy: More Moments of Zen, More Moments of Indecision TheoryEdited by Jason Holt

The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy: Hogwarts for MugglesEdited by Gregory Bassham

The Ultimate Lost and Philosophy: Think Together, Die AloneEdited by Sharon Kaye

The Ultimate South Park and Philosophy: Respect My Philosophah!Edited by Robert Arp and Kevin S. Decker

The Walking Dead and Philosophy: Shotgun. Machete. Reason.Edited by Christopher Robichaud

Watchmen and Philosophy: A Rorschach TestEdited by Mark D. White

X-Men and Philosophy: Astonishing Insight and Uncanny Argument in the Mutant X-VerseEdited by Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski

This edition first published 2013© 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sons of anarchy and philosophy: brains before bullets / George A. Dunn, Jason T. Eberl [editors]. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-64157-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Sons of Anarchy (Television program) I. Dunn, George A., 1957 – editor of compilation.II. Eberl, Jason T. editor of compilation. PN1992.77.S63944S66 2013 791.45′72–dc23

2013016776

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover image: Main image © Pgiam/Getty Images; © Shanina Wain/iStockphoto; © Jerry Downs/iStockphoto; © Jörg Röse-oberreich/ShutterstockCover design by www.simonlevy.co.uk

Introduction

“Gotta Look This Life in the Eye”

Aristotle with an AK … Heidegger on a Harley … Men of Machiavellianism—FX’s hit television series,Sons of Anarchy, has been described as “Hamlet on motorcycles,” but any of these other descriptions would fit as well. Kurt Sutter’s dramatic tale depicts a world in which violence, hedonism, and power plays—along with loyalty, self-sacrifice, and honor—are the social norm. The show leaves us wondering what it would be like for Jax and Tara’s sons to grow up in this world and brings to mind a number of tough questions. For example, should the Sons always have one another’s back no matter what bad shit a member might do? Does the club truly represent ananarchic ideal? Do the rankings of women in the MC as “crow eaters,” “sweet butts,” and “old ladies” keep them from asserting any real power over their men? These are questions that Jax Teller will have to face if he’s to continue as SAMCRO’s president and attempt to reform the club to his father’s original vision of a “Harley commune.” It’s certainly not an easy life for the Sons, their families, and their friends. But is it really that different from the lives of the show’s weekly viewers? All of us “gotta look this life in the eye” and make moral decisions every day that’ll drive us down the open road to the unknown future—let’s just hope that Clay hasn’t sabotaged our bikes!

While our journey down life’s highway doesn’t always have a clear path or a definite destination, we’ve passed a number of road signs along the way: wisdom from various PCs—philosophical clubs—portraits of whose legendary members adorn the halls of academia like the mugshots in SAMCRO’s clubhouse. Like the anarchists of SOA who thumb their nose, and sometimes point an automatic weapon, at authority and societal conventions, philosophers from Socrates onward have often been countercultural—sometimes motivating society to great change and sometimes suffering for attempting to teach rationality to unreasonable people. Socrates was found guilty by his fellow Athenians and sentenced to death for calling widely held assumptions into question, for allegedly corrupting the Athenian youth with his questions, and for not adhering to the Greek religious traditions. By their extreme, yet entertaining and somewhat attractive, lifestyle, the Sons challenge us to re-examine the social norms by which we live, often unreflectively. Their violent, criminal, ultra-hedonistic, and—by many accounts—immoral ethos spurs us to ask, “Why not?” Of course, it doesn’t take too much reflection to realize why it’d be bad to mule cocaine or deal in automatic weapons; but risking their lives together week after week also cements an enviable bond of brotherhood, exemplifying virtues such as loyalty to family and community.

Perhaps watching SOA hasn’t (yet) inspired you to buy a Harley, join an outlaw motorcycle club, or become a “companionator.” But maybe reading this volume will coax you into reading a leather-bound volume of Plato’s dialogues instead of donning a leather cut. Becoming a prospect in a PC requires only an open-minded, yet critically analytical, attitude toward the various “truths” asserted by individuals and social institutions—the very ones against which anarchists like Emma Goldman influenced the young John Teller to rebel. So if you think you have what it takes, keep reading as we ride free toward philosophical discovery.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to the Reaper Crew

George and Jason are immensely grateful to all of our contributors for agreeing to be patched-in to this club of “philosophy enthusiasts” and for breaking several speed limits to get their chapters to us. Each one of their contributions has expanded our appreciation of the show’s philosophical dimensions and we’re sure they will do the same for you, our readers. This volume wouldn’t have been possible without our club’s officers, Jeff Dean and Bill Irwin, and “friends of the club” Lindsay Bourgeois, Jennifer Bray, Louise Spencely, and Paul Stringer, who worked to get this book out of the Teller-Morrow garage and out on the streets. George would like to extend a special thanks to his friend Allison, who first introduced him to the show and to sundry other forms of mayhem that will here go unmentioned. Jason similarly thanks his sister-in-law Jessica Vines for introducing him to the show. She and Jennifer Vines helped him to appreciate not only the show’s dramatic depths, but also the aesthetic value of Jax Teller’s hair.

Finally, we both wish to express our deepest gratitude to Kurt Sutter and the incredibly talented cast and crew of Sons of Anarchy for getting our hearts and minds racing with each new chapter in the unfolding drama of the lives of Jax, Opie, Gemma, Clay, Tara, Wayne … and, of course, Chuckie! As sufferers from what the world sometimes calls “compulsive mental masturbation syndrome”—we just call it philosophy—we can certainly relate to the scorn you’ve had to endure, Chuck.

Part I

“AN EQUAL MIX OF MIGHT AND RIGHT”

ETHICS AT 92 MPH

CHAPTER 1

Virtue and Vice in the SAMCROpolis

Aristotle ViewsSons of Anarchy

Jason T. Eberl

At the end of Season 5 of Sons of Anarchy, just before she’s arrested as an accessory to murder, Tara informs Jax that she and their boys are leaving Charming. She doesn’t want her and Jax to “end up like the two people we hate the most”—Clay and Gemma Morrow—and their boys to be “destined to re-live all of our mistakes” (“J’ai Obtenu Cette”). Jax faces an ultimatum: either leave SAMCRO behind or lose his family. Less than two years earlier, after getting out of a three-month stint in Stockton prison, Jax had told Tara that he was done with SAMCRO and had made a deal with Clay to give him a way out. So Tara’s ultimatum should be a no-brainer for Jax, yet he seems torn.

In the past several months, Jax has assumed the presidency of the MC and taken on more responsibility for the future direction of the club. But is his allegiance to the club and his sense of responsibility to its members—his brothers—the only thing holding him back from going to Oregon with his family? Could it be that he simply can’t bring himself to leave SAMCRO? After all, it’s the only life he’s ever known: “Since I was five, Tara, all I ever wanted was a Harley and a cut” (“Potlatch”). He has also confessed that, without SAMCRO, he’s just “an okay mechanic with a GED. The only thing I do well is outlaw” (“Out”). And when Bobby Munson discovers that Jax is planning to leave the MC, he exhorts, “Your solution to a problem will always be a club solution. It’s the way you’re wired” (“Kiss”).

Has life in SAMCRO held Jax back from being all that he could’ve been or has it allowed him to develop his potential in a way no other lifestyle could? Jax has certainly grown as a leader—outmaneuvering not only the ruthless ATF Agent June Stahl but also the diabolical Damon Pope, while at the same time appeasing the Galindo Cartel. Even Clay comes to admit that Jax is a better leader of the MC than he ever was (“Darthy”). Indeed, leadership and cunning are examples of Jax’svirtues. The term “virtue” is derived from the Latin word for “power” (virtus), which is also linked to the word for “man” (vir) and “manliness”—so “virtue” shares a root with “virile.” Perhaps Jax could only have cultivated such virtues within the violent, anarchic world of SAMCRO, but he also missed out on cultivating other character traits—such as gentleness and moderation—that don’t fit well in the world of unbridled violence and lust that is the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322BCE) famously argues that human beings aren’t born with inclinations toward either virtue or vice; rather, each person’s moral character traits are cultivated through a combination of social influence and individual rational choice. The social environment—polis (“city”) in Aristotle’s original Greek—in which one is born and raised, or currently lives, is centrally important to one’s initial and ongoing moral character development. It’s clear that having been raised in thepolis of SAMCRO had a tremendous influence on the young Jax and Opie Winston, fostering their development of certain key virtues that Aristotle would commend: courage, loyalty, deep friendship, and willingness to make sacrifices for the common good. But this band of outlaws is also home to many vices: Clay’s greed, Tig Trager’s uncontrolled lust, and Gemma’s manipulative power games. Jax is clearly not immune to these malign influences, especially once he moves up to the head of the table as president. As he tells Bobby, “The gavel corrupts. You can’t sit in this chair without being a savage” (“Darthy”). Far from being pure, the SAMCROpolis tends to nurture both virtues and vices in its “citizens.”

“Balance Between Might and Right”

Sons of Anarchy relies on our fascination with “anti-heroes,”1 morally ambiguous protagonists for whom we often cheer even if we can’t justify all of their actions. Nobody wants to see SAMCRO go down under the RICO Act, even though the federal government’s job is precisely to protect us from illegal activities such as gun-running, drug-muling, and criminal violence. Jax is forever trying to get the club out of such activities, but he can’t avoid using violence, deception, and collaboration with other criminals to achieve his laudable goal—and that’s just in one episode (“J’ai Obtenu Cette”)! Clearly, Jax and his fellow Men of Mayhem aren’t your typical “white hat” good guys. But neither are they just a gang of violent law-breakers, for otherwise we’d have no sympathy for them. Part of the show’s appeal stems from recognizing the members of SAMCRO as kindred spirits who exemplify—albeit to dramatic extremes—the mixture of virtue and vice found in every human being’s moral character. No one is perfectly good or perfectly bad: Clay loves Gemma deeply and is genuinely, compassionately heartbroken when he learns of her rape, but this same man is also capable of bouncing her face off of the floor (“Hands”).

When Clay attacks Gemma, it’s a shockingly brutal scene of spousal abuse, but it’s not all that surprising given what we know about Clay’s moral character. He’s inclined toward violence, greed, self-protectiveness, and using people as means to get what he wants—just ask Elliot Oswald—or removing those who confront him as obstacles—such as the Nomads Clay initially hired to do his bidding. Gemma is the latest in a long line of people Clay has abused in various ways for his own self-centered purposes. So his treatment of her, despite his genuine love for her in other contexts, is consistent with the type of man Clay is. When Juice Ortiz asks Clay what he did to make Tara declare him “already dead” to her, he responds forlornly, “Same thing I always do”; and later, when Wayne Unser speculates that sentimentality caused Clay to spare his life, Clay responds, “Ain’t my nature” (“Toad’s Wild Ride”).

Virtues and vices are Aristotle’s terms for such inclinations toward acts that are either good or bad, respectively. For example, Gemma knows exactly what Opie is doing when he attacks Sherriff Roosevelt and is hauled off to prison with Jax, Tig, and Chibs Telford—he’s “staying close” to Jax as he has since the two were little boys riding Huffys before trading up to Harleys. Opie’s virtue of selfless devotion to Jax is just as integral to the type of man he is as Clay’s greed is to his moral character. Of course, Opie isn’t morally perfect. His character is also comprised of some questionable traits. His loyalty to the club, for example, overrides his fidelity to his first wife, Donna, eventually resulting in her death; and his jealousy over Lyla’s chosen profession, while understandable, nevertheless leads to an unhealthy marital dynamic.

What distinguishes a virtue from a vice is that the former involves acting and feeling in the right amount—that is, performing the right action, or feeling the right emotion, at the right time and for the right reason. Vice, on the other hand, involves either an excess or a deficiency of action or feeling:

Some vices miss what is right because they are deficient, others because they are excessive, in feelings or in actions, whereas virtue finds and chooses what is intermediate.2

Take the virtue of loyalty, for example.3 Bobby and Tig are both loyal to Clay, but they don’t just blindly follow him. Both have challenged Clay when they judge him to be going down an unwise or unjustifiable path. Bobby constantly badgers Clay about the drug-muling deal with the Galindo Cartel in Season 4; yet, he goes behind Jax’s back to broker a deal to save Clay’s life in Season 5. Contrast this with Chuckie Marstein’s obsequiousness—pathetically “accepting” whatever the club members bid him to do, which is often simply to get lost—or with Stahl’s easy betrayal of her partner and lover, killing her to serve Stahl’s own ambitions. Courage is another virtue exemplified by our collective protagonists, acting with boldness at the right time and for the right reason. Being bold, even risking one’s life, is virtuous if it’s for the right reason; but Juice acts rashly when he charges into a minefield. By the same token, being cautious can be virtuous too, but not if your caution involves putting innocent children at risk, as when cowardly Ethan Zobelle hides from SAMCRO in a convenience store full of children.

“What Kind of Nasty Shit Did Your Momma Do to You?”

Virtues and vices are not things a person is born with, nor can they be merely bestowed upon you by another person.4 Rather, they are cultivated through habituation, practicing the behaviors modeled by others whom one looks up to as moral exemplars:

Virtues … we acquire, just as we acquire crafts, by having first activated them. For we learn a craft by producing the same product that we must produce when we have learned it; we become builders, for instance, by building, and we become harpists by playing the harp. Similarly, then, we become just by doing just actions, temperate by doing temperate actions, brave by doing brave actions.5

Lowell Harland Jr. probably apprenticed as a mechanic at Teller-Morrow under the guidance of experienced mechanics such as his father and Clay. Likewise, one develops moral virtues by apprenticing under those who already possess such virtues, practicing the moral trade until it becomes second nature. The only problem is that vice may be cultivated in the same way as virtue—Lowell Jr. could just as easily have learned from his dad how to sabotage a motorcycle and get its rider killed.

And once a particular virtue or vice has become ingrained as part of one’s character, it’s as difficult to break as any habit—again, consider the drug-addicted Lowell Jr. Aristotle notes that “the reason why habit is also difficult to change is that it is like nature … ‘Habit, I say, is longtime training … and in the end training is nature for human beings.’”6 Tara observes how mired in habit Jax is when she admonishes him, “You keep saying you want to change things, but you keep repeating old behavior. You can’t have it both ways” (“Potlatch”).

Aristotle stresses the importance of the right environment for becoming virtuous, especially when it comes to children. Our tendency to become habituated is the reason why

we must perform the right activities, since differences in these imply corresponding differences in the states [of moral character]. It is not unimportant, then, to acquire one sort of habit or another, right from our youth. On the contrary, it is very important, indeed all-important.7

This view is well captured by the precept, “Children learn what they live.”

We see this most clearly played out in the politically unstable and violent world of Belfast, as depicted in Season 3. Consider the contrasting aims of the two IRA leaders, Jimmy O’Phelan and Fr. Kellan Ashby. Jimmy O has been working behind the scenes, recruiting day and night, to set up his own revolutionary campaign separate from the control of the “Irish Kings” who govern the Real IRA. Jimmy O’s army of choice? Teenage boys he can easily entice with dreams of “glorious revolution” and “fighting the good fight” for the cause of a free Northern Ireland.

Though he is a leader in the Real IRA’s violent struggle and long-standing arms-dealing relationship with SAMCRO, Fr. Ashby objects to Jimmy O’s plans and recruitment methods. He complains about how Jimmy has been “recruiting off the streets. Broken kids, some as young as ten, eleven. Promising there’ll be a united Ireland, all the cash and prizes that go with it. This isn’t a child’s war … Jimmy’s lost sight of who we are, why we struggle. He’s not a soldier anymore, just a gangster” (“Home”).8

Importantly, Fr. Ashby was also a close friend and confidant of John Teller. He’s thus well aware of J.T.’s “resolute desire” to sever the MC’s ties to the IRA and to raise his boys, Thomas and Jax, in a more serene “biker commune.” We all know how that story ended. But Fr. Ashby sees a second chance at redemption when Abel, kidnapped by Cameron Hayes, is brought to Belfast and put in the care of Maureen Ashby: “I couldn’t do anything to help save the son, but I can do something to save the grandson … from the life of his father” (“Firinne”). Fr. Ashby sees Jax as a willing participant in the same cycle of violence from which J.T. had failed to free him. Is being in Jax’s care truly what would be best for Abel? Won’t he, just like his father, want nothing but a Harley and a cut by age five? Wouldn’t Abel be likely to succeed his father at the head of the table in “church” and perpetuate the violence (and porn and prostitution, too) into the next generation?

Fr. Ashby is determined not to allow Jax’s vices to negatively impact Abel’s moral development. He succeeds in convincing Jax that a better life awaits Abel “with a father who didn’t torture and murder a man yesterday,” as we witness in the powerfully moving scene when Jax follows Abel and his adoptive parents around not long after seeing his mother pull a gun on some nuns—NUNS!—and threaten to kill a baby if they didn’t give up Abel’s location (“Bainne”). As we know, Gemma’s eligibility for “Mother/Grandmother of the Year” award slips away even further in Season 5. She and Clay certainly didn’t model the best behavior for Jax. Would he and Tara—who’s already helped Gemma kill and dispose of an innocent woman—do any better?

“A Unique Little Town”

SAMCRO is embedded within the small town of Charming, California. As Clay affirms, “If it happens in Charming, it’s SAMCRO’s problem” (“Smite”). Jax and Opie, along with their generational cohorts Tara and David Hale, all grew up together in this community; yet they took different paths. Jax and Opie’s path we know well. Hale, proud son of one of Charming’s founding families, went in a different direction. And Tara had to get completely out of this “backwards, incestuous, and small-minded” town in an attempt to carve out her own identity and find her vocation as a healer, noting, “I didn’t hate Charming, just me in it at the time” (“Seeds”).

Charming is just as vital to Sons of Anarchy as any of its colorful residents. Charming has its own characteristics (though not virtues and vices in a literal sense) that have been formed by those who’ve invested their lives in the community—such as SAMCRO and the Hale and Oswald families—and is resistant to outside influences. As Unser quietly warns Zobelle when he’s setting up shop on Main Street, “Charming’s a special town. Not many folks take to it. I like to think the town chooses its occupants. Right ones stay, wrong ones disappear” (“Eureka”). We also witness Clay’s concern over the gentrifying effect of Mayor Hale’s Charming Heights suburban development initiative—just what sort of new people will be moving into town? Of course, this may reflect more Clay’s self-centered worry that the town’s expansion will shine a greater light on it and bring more intensive law-enforcement scrutiny—as if there isn’t enough already! He explains the situation to Jax after leveraging Oswald over the killing of his daughter’s rapist: “If Oswald’s land goes commercial, that means housing developments. Population rises, brings more cops, more state and federal involvement. Charming goes Disney, and SAMCRO gets squeezed out by the most dangerous gang of all: old white money” (“Fun Town”). President Jax, on the other hand, isn’t afraid to deal with Hale to help Charming Heights go through and bring some lucrative—and legitimate—business opportunities for Teller-Morrow Automotive.

The community of Charming and its leadership is indeed of central importance as the ironic, Mayberry-turned-upside-down setting in which SAMCRO operates. But it’s also an influential force in the moral formation of its long-time residents. Claiming something directly opposed to the individualistic and anarchic worldview of Clay and company, Aristotle affirms a communitarian ethic in which political leaders do more than protect the innocent and make sure the town’s traffic lights are working. For Aristotle, “the legislator makes the citizens good by habituating them, and this is the wish of every legislator; if he fails to do it well he misses his goal. Correct habituation distinguishes a good political system from a bad one.”9

This level of moral leadership isn’t at all evident in the case of Mayor Jacob Hale, Jr., whose goals for Charming are more focused on business opportunities that’ll benefit his pocketbook—to the point of partnering with members of the League of American Nationalists (“Albification”) and the largest purveyor of deviant sex products in Asia (“To Be, Act 2”). His conflict with SAMCRO is more about how Clay’s values impact him and not the town. As outsider Lincoln Potter wonders, “Does it bother anyone in this town that their mayor is also their biggest developer? No one smells that stench?” (“Booster”). Later, Sherriff Eli Roosevelt, another transplant to Charming, challenges Hale, asking “And where are those lines, mayor? You know, the ones that separate public service from self service? … You can wrap it in any type of ‘I love Charming’ package that you want. But it still funnels back to your pocket” (“Family Recipe”). Hale thus doesn’t fit Aristotle’s definition of a virtuous legislator whose primary interest should be the moral development of those who are governed. He’s a far cry from Aristotle’s “true politician,” who “seems to have put more effort into virtue than into anything else, since he wants to make the citizens good and law-abiding.”10

The mayor’s deceased brother, on the other hand, aspired to succeed Unser as chief of police so that he could serve as an example of law-abiding leadership that doesn’t mix itself up with “outlaw justice.” According to Unser, Deputy Chief Hale “thinks Charming’s stuck in 1969, wants to bring it into the twenty-first century.” The deputy chief is also concerned about the fact that SAMCRO’s members function as moral exemplars to the people of Charming, “You guys cruise around here like heroes, but you and I know the truth … You’re white trash thugs holding on to a dying dream … You can’t stop progress. It won’t be long before SAMCRO is just an ugly memory in the history of Charming” (“Seeds”).

Aristotle would endorse David Hale’s desire to bring law and virtue into conformity:

For most lawful actions, we might say, are those produced by virtue as a whole; for the law prescribes living in accord with each virtue, and forbids living in accord with each vice. Moreover, the actions producing the whole of virtue are the lawful actions that the laws prescribe for education promoting the common good.11

Aristotle isn’t proposing a tyrannical political system, however. In fact, he finds such an overbearing system to be the worst form of government.12 Nevertheless, as we’ve already seen, it’s the job of legislators to pass laws that will help cultivate virtue in the community’s youth:

It is difficult, however, for someone to be trained correctly for virtue from his youth if he has not been brought up under correct laws; for the many, especially the young, do not find it pleasant to live in a temperate and resistant way. That is why laws must prescribe their upbringing and practices; for they will not find these things painful when they get used to them.13

Aristotle would be fine with the virtuous members of the community being more and more self-governing upon reaching maturity. But a truly anarchic state isn’t possible because there’ll always be “bestial” members of the community, whose vices can be controlled only through punitive measures:

That is why legislators must, in some people’s view, urge people toward virtue and exhort them to aim at what is fine—on the assumption that anyone whose good habits have prepared him decently will listen to them—but must impose corrective treatments and penalties on anyone who disobeys or lacks the right nature, and must completely expel the incurable [Otto Delaney? Lenny “the Pimp” Janowitz?]. For the decent person, it is assumed, will attend to reason because his life aims at what is fine, whereas the base person, since he desires pleasure, has to receive corrective treatments by pain, like a beast of burden … As we have said, then, someone who is good must be finely brought up and habituated, and then must live in decent practices, doing base actions neither willingly nor unwillingly. And this will be true if his life follows some sort of understanding and correct order that prevails on him.14

As his older brother is aware, though, Hale’s “sense of self-righteousness can sometimes get the best of him” (“Albification”) and it even leads him to temporarily buy into Zobelle’s sermon about the erosion of “faith, values, morals, and decency” (“Fix”) until he learns of Gemma’s rape. Hale’s sudden death at Half-Sack’s funeral may be symbolic of the death of his form of noble, righteous chivalry on behalf of the people of Charming. Can Charming, or SAMCRO for that matter, be saved to serve as incubators for moral virtue?

“I’m Not Sure Which Cancer’s Worse: the One in Me or the One in Charming”

When Clay gives Juice his “Men of Mayhem” patch, he tells him, “You know, most days this life is just riding around, getting shit done. Some days it’s more than that. Some days we ask our guys to do shit very few men could do. That’s what this means” (“Fruit for the Crows”). As we noted at the outset, the MC can be fertile ground for the cultivation of virtues, like courage, of which Aristotle would approve. But such courage is often put at the service of the second type of “shit” to which Clay refers, SAMCRO’s lawless activities, which outsiders like Deputy Chief Hale view as fostering far more vice than virtue within the community of Charming. As Jax’s ex-wife, Wendy, not necessarily a paragon of virtue herself, warns Tara, “The MC, this town, it kills all the shit you love” (“J’ai Obtenu Cette”). So, are there any virtues that SAMCRO could not only cultivate within its own membership, but also model for the good people of Charming and for us viewers of Sons of Anarchy?

Yes, SAMCRO models loyalty founded upon the deep friendship within the community of members, old ladies, prospects, crow eaters, and other “friends of the club” like Chuckie and Wayne Unser. When the club is preparing to face off against the League of American Nationalists, everyone and their families are brought under the protective umbrella of Teller-Morrow. Clay even gives a heartfelt speech in which he expresses his sincere love for everyone there (“The Culling”). Aristotle notes that “fellow voyagers and fellow soldiers [the brothers of the MC are both] are called friends … And the extent of their community is the extent of their friendships [other charters, families] … The proverb ‘What friends have is common’ is correct, since friendship involves community.”15 Aristotle is referring here to the function of justice within a community of friends and the fact that friends in such communities don’t necessarily need “laws” of justice between them since they share what they have in common. It’s only among members of the wider political community in which these more close-knit communities are embedded that laws of justice are necessary, since the bonds of friendship are weaker and the virtue of loyalty is not as prevalent.

We see this form of justice-without-law in play when Opie’s first wife, Donna, who harbors no love for the MC that led her husband into prison for five years, can’t pay for her groceries and Gemma steps in to help out, telling a skeptical Donna, “SAMCRO is not the enemy, it’s the glue that’ll pull you through the ugly shit” (“Seeds”). After Opie’s death, Jax shows his widow Lyla her “family”—SAMCRO won’t let her and her children go without (“Stolen Huffy”). How many other communities exemplify this degree of love and support for their members? And the club’s generosity doesn’t stop at the gates of T-M, as we see the club model other forms of community service activities for the people of Charming and surrounding towns: organizing a fundraiser for a local school (“Giving Back”), running a blood drive to support a children’s hospital (“Eureka”), and working to save an urban garden from being paved over (“Family Recipe”).

“It’s in You. It’s Who You Are”

SAMCRO may not be the best exemplar of moral virtues beyond loyalty and courage, but Jax is trying his damnedest to change the worst aspects of the MC’s character. In line with Aristotle’s advice about seeking out moral exemplars, Jax is following the lead of his father, John Teller, though he also recognizes that J.T. isn’t to be admired in all respects. When Jax starts to lose hope that his father could really offer him further guidance, Piney exhorts, “Your father was the best man I ever knew. And before you let him die, you should find him and know that for yourself” (“Family Recipe”).

While flawed, J.T. fits Aristotle’s picture of a virtuous human being insofar as he exemplifies both intellectual and moral qualities worth emulating. As Piney describes him to Tara, “He’s a complicated guy. He was angry and impulsive. Just righteous as hell. Hated being wrong. Not much of an education. Book smart, though. He used to devour three and four of them at a time. He was loyal. Too loyal” (“Una Venta”). J.T. was by no means a saint, but he remains a suitably inspirational figure for Jax. We even see Jax following his father’s intellectual lead by writing reflections to pass on to his own sons (“Sovereign”). J.T.’s weaknesses, though, didn’t allow him to reform the club without getting himself killed.

Jax knows he needs to be smarter, stronger, and more ruthless than his father in order to succeed where J.T. had failed. The environment of SAMCRO, under Clay’s leadership, and Gemma’s maternal influence have cultivated within Jax just the right strengths to accomplish this task and we see him having largely succeeded at the end of Season 5—that is, until Sheriff Roosevelt knocks on his door. But there’s a moral cost to his success. Much blood had to be shed and perhaps Jax is right when he confesses to Bobby that only a “savage” could effectively lead the MC and bring about the reform J.T. sought. The particular mix of virtue and vice that comprises Jax’s moral character may, in the end, be exactly what SAMCRO needs at this moment in its history. We can only hope that, if Abel or Thomas eventually succeeds their father at the head of the table, the environment in which they’ve been raised will have evolved closer to the “biker commune” that cultivates virtues such as loyalty, courage, and communal brotherhood and away from the vices passed on from the elder generation who founded the MC.

Notes

1. Other examples include the serial-killer Dexter, the tortured soul of The Dark Knight, and the morally gray world of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series.

2. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics [NE], 2nd ed., trans. Terence Irwin (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1999), Book II, Ch. 6, 1107a4–6.

3. For further discussion of the virtue of loyalty, see Chapter 3 by James Mahon.

4. The thirteenth-century Aristotelian philosopher and Christian theologian Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–1274) claimed that God could directly “infuse” certain virtues—faith, hope, and charity—in a person by grace, but we’ll limit the discussion here to Aristotle’s original theory.

5. NE Book II, Ch. 1, 11033a32–b2.

6. NE Book VII, Ch. 10, 1152a32–34.

7. NE Book II, Ch. 1, 1103b22–25.

8. For further discussion of Jimmy O’s and Fr. Ashby’s distinct visions of the how best to carry out “the cause” of the Real IRA, see Chapter 8 by Philip Smolenski.

9. NE Book II, Ch. 1, 1103b4–7.

10. NE Book I, Ch. 13, 1102a7–10.

11. NE Book V, Ch. 2, 1130b23–26.

12. NE Book VIII, Ch. 10, 1160b1–9.

13. NE Book X, Ch. 9, 1179b32–36.

14. NE Book X, Ch. 9, 1180a6–18.

15. NE Book VIII, Ch. 9, 1159b28–3.

CHAPTER 2

A Prospect’s Guide to Nietzsche

Tim Jung and Minerva Ahumada

Watching Sons of Anarchy, it’s easy to get caught up cheering for career criminals. It’s hard not to root for SAMCRO’s hijinks, to become endeared to Tig Trager’s perversions and Happy Lowman’s brutality, and to admire Jax Teller’s cleverness and Opie Winston’s loyalty. It isn’t clear why we should like these hardened outlaws, but philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) has some helpful things to say on the subject.

Nietzsche is known not only for his radical ideas but also for his distinctive literary style and his memorable aphorisms, such as, “Whatever does not kill me makes me stronger.”1 Even Jax knows that aphorism—he quotes it in the episode “Sovereign,” though he identifies it as “an old saying,” presumably unaware of where it’s from, and says that he disagrees with it. “No victor believes in chance” is another one of Nietzsche’s aphorisms, one Jax would probably have an easier time endorsing, considering how ingeniously he’s able to maneuver SAMCRO out of sticky situations.2 Nietzsche calls himself an “immoralist” and sometimes an “antichrist,” so clearly he considers himself to be a bit of an outlaw. Nietzsche also has a penchant for questioning authority. If he rode a Harley, the Sons might even consider patching him in.

But Nietzsche doesn’t simply thumb his nose at conventional morality. He’s interested in tracing our contemporary morality back to its origins in the distant past in order to understand how it came to be the way it is today, not unlike how John Teller—and later Jax—explore the history of SAMCRO in order to understand how the club “lost its way.”3 Nietzsche believes most philosophers have overlooked “where our good and evil really originated”4 and he thinks we need to investigate this origin before we can assess the value of our reigning moral ideals, like sympathy and equality. As we’ll see, not just Nietzsche, but also our admiration for the Sons of Anarchy calls into question these reigning moral ideals.

SAMCRO’s Master Morality

In the town of Charming, there are numerous contending forces: SAMCRO, competing gangs like the Nords, the influential Hale and Oswald families, and the constant parade of law enforcement agencies—including the local PD, the San Joaquin Sherriff’s Department, and the ATF. These forces constantly shift from being allies to antagonists and back again. Jacob Hale associates himself with Ethan Zobelle’s League of American Nationalists; Deputy Chief David Hale assists—in more ways than one—ruthless ATF Agent June Stahl; and SAMCRO is constantly redefining its relationship with the Mayans, the One-Niners, the Galindo Cartel, and others. But as far as SAMCRO is concerned, Charming is its town, which it protects from noxious outside forces like meth, heroin, and pedophile rapists, while at the same time SAMCRO flouts the law—or at least conventional morality—by running guns, muling drugs, and producing porn.

So who’s good and who’s evil in Charming? Nietzsche would say that we’re asking the wrong question. Instead of labeling people and their actions as “good” or “evil,” Nietzsche uses philology—the study of the historical development of language—to figure out how we came to use these terms. We might assume that the word “good” originated as a term of praise bestowed on those who perform kind or selfless actions. On this view, favored by some of Nietzsche’s philosophical predecessors, the word “good” derives its positive connotation from the pleasure or relief that the beneficiary of a good deed feels in being helped. Tara sewing up Cameron Hayes or offering to operate on Abel would be “good” actions in this sense. Nietzsche, however, after tracing the history of the word “good” (and its equivalents) in various languages, concludes that this widely held view is wrong: “the judgment ‘good’ did not originate with those to whom ‘goodness’ was shown!”5 On the contrary, noble, high-minded, aristocratic warriors were the first to call themselves “good,” not because they were kind and helpful, but rather because they were fierce and menacing. It’s not the selfless or meek person, but the strong individual and the community that fosters and honors his strength (Vikings, Homeric heroes) that provides the basis for what Nietzsche calls master morality.

In the master morality of the ancient world, a “good” action didn’t need to demonstrate kindness to others. Rather, an action was deemed “good” if it embodied the virtues associated with the ruling class of warriors, such as strength, bravery, cunning, wit, and leadership:

The knightly-aristocratic value judgments presupposed a powerful physicality, a flourishing, abundant, even overflowing health, together with that which serves to preserve it: war, adventure, hunting, dancing, war games, and in general all that involves vigorous, free, joyful activity.6

Master morality defined “good” not only by referring to powerful individuals, but also by referring to those activities that were performed in order to maintain a powerful status and robust health. Master morality emphasizes the activity through which one gives expression to one’s strength. Those who embody this active spirit may be carefree and playful, but they also have the capacity to endure hardship. Their strength is also on display in their loyalty and in their swaggering self-confidence.

Members of SAMCRO possess many of the traits Nietzsche associates with master morality. When we meet Jax in the pilot episode, he’s buying a package of condoms. When the flirtatious cashier asks him why he doesn’t just buy them in bulk, Jax jokes that he likes to keep himself humble. His confidence makes him attractive and is a sign of his virility. But the life of the master is not simply about sexual conquests. Nietzsche also mentions hunting and dancing as activities through which masters display their superabundant vitality. Think of a “patch-over party.” When SAMCRO patches over The Devil’s Tribe, we witness a raucous party—it’s no wonder Tig wanted to be there so badly! But, since the main business of the masters is warfare, it’s only fitting that the party be followed by a shoot-out with the Mayans the next day.

SAMCRO may not be a real aristocracy in the old fashioned sense of holding official titles, but it certainly acts just like one in many ways. How many times do we hear people refer to Gemma Morrow as the “queen” and Jax as the “prince”? More importantly, like the warrior class of the ancient world, SAMCRO members have their own moral code that doesn’t reflect the morality of the rest of Charming or, presumably, most viewers of the show. After all, most of us don’t typically treat our disloyal friends or family members to a meeting with Mr. Mayhem.

Yet despite the club’s criminal activities and contempt for conventional morality, we can’t help but admire their loyalty, friendship, endurance, and sense of honor. They clearly have moral ideals, even if they aren’t the ones shared by most of us. Though their actions may seem “evil” in many respects, Nietzsche claims that our condemnation of them is really rooted in hidden envy and resentment. Don’t we all secretly wish we could be like the Sons, who are clearly outstanding in so many respects?

“A Student’s Prank”

The Sons of Anarchy exhibit master morality in ways that challenge our understanding of morality. Their goodness is so different from what we customarily deem to be good that we might be tempted to call it by an entirely different name—such as barbaric violence! Indeed, Nietzsche associates the ancient master with “Beasts of prey, the splendid blond beast.”7 The blond in question is the mighty predatory lion, but Nietzsche could just as easily have been referring to the splendidly blond Jax. Like the aristocratic masters of the ancient world, the Sons “go back to the innocent conscience of the beast of prey, as triumphant monsters,” murdering government agents, castrating a rapist carnie, or blowing up a Mayan stash of guns and drugs “as if it were no more than a student’s prank.” The ancient master perpetrated similar acts of mayhem, “convinced they [had] provided the poets with a lot more material for song and praise.”8