Glasgow University will be singing songs of ice and fire next month with an introductory course to philosophy based on hit show Game of Thrones.

Lecturer Dr John Donaldson will be teaching Game of Thrones and Philosophy: Politics, Power and War in July.

Themes from the show, such as political authority and war theory, will be used to introduce key philosophical principles at the two one-day events.

Dr Donaldson, who previously ran a course examining the virtues of Homer Simpson, said he hoped it would be popular with students and newbies alike.

He said: "We will use important scenes from the show to introduce philosophy.

"The first thing we will look at is game theory. The other two areas we will look at are political legitimacy and war theory.

"The first looks at the right to a throne. Philosophers look at anyone's right to govern by discussing possible scenarios."

He added: "These include what life would be like without a government, for example. Does that make life better or worse? People will debate to see what they think is best.

"The final part is on war theory. Game of Thrones is just incessant war so we will look at whether or not war is ever justified.

"In Game of Thrones, there's always a side which believes it is justified in attacking while the other side thinks otherwise. We will look at the argument from both sides while using one particular scene."

"We will study that one scene for around an hour of the course."