"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

Introduction: "Gotta Look This Life in the Eye" viiiAcknowledgments: Thanks to the Reaper Crew xPart I "An Equal Mix of Might and Right": Ethics at 92 mph 11 Virtue and Vice in the SAMCROpolis: Aristotle Views Sons of Anarchy 3Jason T. Eberl2 A Prospect's Guide to Nietzsche 16Tim Jung and Minerva Ahumada3 Tig Needs an Escort Home: Is Loyalty a Virtue? 29James Edwin Mahon4 A Saint among the Sons: Aquinas on Murder and the Men of Mayhem 38Randall M. JensenPart II "Off the Social Grid": The Politics of Mayhem 515 SAMCRO versus the Leviathan: Laying Down the (Motor)Cycle of Violence 53George A. Dunn6 "The Rat Prince" and The Prince: The Machiavellian Politics of the MC 65Timothy M. Dale and Joseph J. Foy7 Chaos and Order: Anarchy in the MC 73Bruno de Brito Serra8 "Another Fun-Filled Day in the Six Counties": The Real IRA--Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? 85Philip Smolenski9 SAMCRO Goes to War 94Alex LeveringhausPart III "The Concept Was Pure, Simple, True": Biker Identity and Meaning 10510 My Skin, My Self: SAMCRO's Ink and Personal Identity 107Charlene Elsby11 The Faith of Our Sons and the Tragic Quest 117Kevin Corn12 Once a Biker Slut, Always a Biker Slut: Narrative Identity in Charming 128Minerva Ahumada and Tim Jung13 SAMCRO and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 139Massimiliano L. CappuccioPart IV "The Passion in His Heart and the Reason in His Mind": Sex, Love, and Gender 15114 Sometimes a Motorcycle Is Just a Motorcycle: Freud and Hamlet Come to Charming 153Andrea Zanin15 When a Charming Woman Speaks 165Leslie A. Aarons16 Mothers of Anarchy: Power, Control, and Care in the Feminine Sphere 175Leigh C. KolbPart V "Each Savage Event Was a Catalyst for the Next": The Historic and the Homeric 18717 Sons of History: How SAMCRO Lost and Found Its Way 189Peter S. Fosl18 Anarchism and Authenticity, or Why SAMCRO Shouldn't Fight History 201Peter S. Fosl19 Good Old Fashioned Mayhem 214Greg Littmann20 The Road Out of Mayhem 225Greg LittmannContributors: Philosophers of Mayhem 237List of Episodes: The Life (and Death?) of Sam Crow 243Index 246