Fictional Philosophy

After seeing a post last week on justice in a video game by Zain Kinnare, I decided it might not be a bad idea to analyze justice based on a fictional society. Of the many worthy candidates for this, I felt that the one that best shows many different facets of justice is in Westeros, from the A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin. This is a fairly massive series, so it will be best to focus on about two different philosophical concepts that are represented: Kant’s categorical imperative and Mills’ utilitarianism.

The land of Westeros is a land ruled by a monarchy, with the current king, Robert Baratheon, being the winner of a rebellion against the ancient prior ruling family of Targaryen. The story begins with this king seeking out his best friend and lord of the northern lands to act as second in command of the kingdom. This man, Eddard Stark, is an honorable and just man who follows principles of honor, duty, and a code of justice that follows a philosophy resembling the categorical imperative. Instead of testing hypothetical actions as universal laws, he instead tests them against his conception of an ideal ruler, so as to always do the “right” and “honorable” thing. He maintains this position until he is put under very extreme coercion, whereupon he trades his honor for the safety of his family and his life. Aside from this, he is undeniably one of the most upstanding and moral characters, and yet his actions cause unspeakable suffering, both for him, his family, and the nation as a whole.

On the other hand, there are those who follow a more utilitarian philosophy of wanting the best for their country, though this often includes them being ruler. Chief amongst these is Danerys Targaryen, the exiled princess of Westeros, who chooses to fight to take over Westeros because she believes she is the best capable, as well as it being her birthright. As she goes through the process of acquiring soldiers with which to reclaim her throne, she does much to care and alleviate the suffering of those around her. As an example, in her travels she encounters several slave city-states, the first of which she deals with by buying their slaves, then eliminating their former masters before freeing the slaves. Those now freed people then joined with her as she destroyed the other slave city-states and freeing their people as well. She also maintains strict control over her army, to avoid having civilians injured or brutalized. In the end, she works tirelessly to secure the future for her people, which is fairly utilitarian, especially compared to some of the actually selfish rulers presented in the book.

What do you guys think? Is this a good and valuable way to examine philosophy? Have I adequately represented and explained everything?