Introducing Philosophy Through Pop Culture: From Socrates to South Park, Hume to House

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What can South Park tell us about Socrates and the nature of evil? How does The Office help us to understand Sartre and existentialist ethics? Can Battlestar Galactica shed light on the existence of God? Introducing Philosophy Through Pop Culture uses popular culture to illustrate important philosophical concepts and the work of the major philosophers With examples from film, television, and music including South Park, The Matrix, X-Men, Batman, Harry Potter, Metallica and Lost, even the most abstract and complex philosophical ideas become easier to grasp. Features key essays from across the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, as well as helpful editorial material and a glossary of philosophical terms From metaphysics to epistemology; from ethics to the meaning of life, this unique introduction makes philosophy as engaging as popular culture itself Supplementary website available with teaching guides, sample materials and links to further resources at www.pop-philosophy.org This unique textbook, featuring essays from the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, is perfect for any introduction to philosophy course. From metaphysics to epistemology; from ethics to the meaning of life, Introducing Philosophy through Pop Culture makes philosophy as engaging as popular culture itself. William Irwin is professor of Philosophy and Director of the Honors Program at King’s College in Pennsylvania. In addition to publishing in leading scholarly journals such as Philosophy and Literature and The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Irwin originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books with Seinfeld and Philosophy in 1999. Irwin has also co-edited The Simpsons and Philosophy and edited The Matrix and Philosophy and Metallica and Philosophy. He is currently the General Editor of the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series. David Kyle Johnson is assistant professor of Philosophy at King’s College in Pennsylvania. In addition to his scholarly work on philosophy of religion, Johnson has edited Heroes and Philosophy and is also a contributor to the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, having written chapters on South Park, Family Guy, The Office, Battlestar Galactica, and Batman. Johnson hosts a podcast on Pop Culture and Philosophy at www.philosophyandpopculture.com Cover Back Cover Title Contents Acknowledgments Introduction How to Use this Book in a Philosophy Course Part I: What is Philosophy? Introduction 1. Flatulence and Philosophy: A Lot of Hot Air, or the Corruption of Youth? The “Danger” of South Park Oh My God! They Killed Socrates! You Bastards! Cartman Gets a Banal Probe Friendship Kicks Ass! The Dialogues of Kyle and Stan An Apology for South Park: Getting in Touch with Your Inner Cartman The Talking Cure for Our Culture 2. The Chewbacca Defense: A South Park Logic Lesson It Does Not Make Sense! Dude, Listen to Reason You’re Not Asleep Yet, Are You? If Chewbacca Lives on Endor, You Must Acquit The Defense Rests 3. Wikiality, Truthiness, and Gut Thinking: Doing Philosophy Colbert-Style My Truth (Individual Relativism) Wikiality (Cultural Relativism) Truthiness (Intuitionism) A Right to Your Opinion How to do Philosophy Part II: Epistemology Introduction 4. You Know, I Learned Something Today: Stan Marsh and the Ethics of Belief If Evidence is Lacking, So What? Belief and Evidence Faith vs. Reason Prudential Reasons vs. Evidence What’s The Harm, Dude? Inquiry, Hard Work, and Progress 5. Tumbling Down the Rabbit Hole: Knowledge, Reality, and the Pit of Skepticism The Skeptical Dilemma: Cartesian Dreams and Demons Skepticism within the Matrix How Deep Does the Rabbit Hole Go? Skepticism Outside the Matrix 6. Adama’s True Lie: Earth and the Problem of Knowledge “You’re Right. There’s No Earth. It’s All a Legend” “I’m Not a Cylon! . . . Maybe, But We Just Can’t Take That Chance” “You Have to Have Something to Live For. Let it be Earth” Part III: Metaphysics Introduction 7. Mind and Body in Zion The Matrix Scenario Mystery and Miracles Mind–Body Dualism Mind–Body Materialism Mental States: Reduction or Elimination? The Role of Matter: Biology or Function? 8. Amnesia, Personal Identity, and the Many Lives of Wolverine What Is Personal Identity? Cassandra Nova, Charles Xavier, and John Locke Bringing It All Back to Wolverine Jamie Madrox and Derek Parfit Bringing It All Back to Wolverine (Again) Be Slow to Judge 9. Destiny in the Wizarding World Varieties of Prophecy Fallible Prophecies Self-Fulfilling Prophecies Destiny A Rodent’s Destiny Time Travel and Fixed Time 10. The Terminator Wins: Is the Extinction of the Human Race the End of People, or Just the Beginning? “Hi There . . . Fooled You! You’re Talking to a Machine.” “It’s Not a Man. It’s a Machine.” “Skynet Becomes Self-Aware at 2:14 am Eastern Time, August 29th.” “Cyborgs Don’t Feel Pain. I Do.” Part IV: Philosophy of Religion Introduction 11. Cartmanland and the Problem of Evil There’s No God, Dude! And That’s It?!? The Story of Job The Sweet Milk of Our Tears You Are Up There! Jesus Christ and John Hick: The Soul Making Theodicy 12. Aquinas and Rose on Faith and Reason What Can We Know? Chain of Truth Rose Colored Glasses Does Rose Really Know? Do We Really Know? “I have made my peace” – Rose Does Rose Presume to Know? To Know . . . and Believe 13. “I Am an Instrument of God”: Religious Belief, Atheism, and Meaning “A Rational Universe Explained Through Rational Means” “That Is Sin. That Is Evil. And You Are Evil” “You Have a Gift, Kara . . . And I’m Not Gonna Let You Piss That Away” “The Gods Shall Lift Those Who Lift Each Other” “You Have to Believe in Something” Part V: Ethics Introduction 14. Plato on Gyges’ Ring of Invisibility: The Power of Heroes and the Value of Virtue Claire’s Thumos Saved the World Claire Is Logical; Spock Is Not The Virtue That Sylar Lacks Superpowers and Super-Vices Why Claire Apologized But Isn’t It Only Natural? 15. The Virtues of Humor: What The Office Can Teach Us About Aristotle’s Ethics Virtues and Vices Wit and Virtue David Brent: Regional Manager, Chilled-Out Entertainer, Buffoon Gareth Keenan: Assistant (to the) Regional Manager, Territorial Army Lieutenant, Boor Tim Canterbury: Senior Sales Clerk, Unrequited Lover, Ironic Wit Lessons Learned 16. Why Doesn’t Batman Kill the Joker? Meet the Joker Is Batman a Utilitarian or Deontologist? (Or None of the Above?) To the Bat-Trolley, Professor Thomson! Hush Will Love This Next Story . . . Top Ten Reasons the Batmobile Is Not a Trolley . . . “I Want My Lawyer! Oh, That’s Right, I Killed Him Too” So, Case Closed – Right? 17. Means, Ends, and the Critique of Pure Superheroes “‘In the end’? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends.” The Utilitarians Strike Back “Even in the face of Armageddon I shall not compromise in this.” “Who watches the watchmen?” Part VI: Challenges to Traditional Ethics Introduction 18. Metallica, Nietzsche, and Marx: The Immorality of Morality Morality and Power Metallica and Rebellion Metallica, Nihilism, and Nostalgia 19. When Machines Get Souls: Nietzsche on the Cylon Uprising Master Morality and Slave Morality Escaping Slavery by Creating Souls The Spiritual Move from Slave to Equal “They Have a Plan” 20. Being-in-The Office: Sartre, the Look, and the Viewer Bad Faith and the Look Pam Beesley’s Shame and the Camera’s Unwelcomed Look David Brent’s Pride and the Welcomed Look of the Camera The Viewer and the Look 21. Batman’s Confrontation with Death, Angst, and Freedom A Determined Batman? Alfred and Appearance Thrown into Our Worlds Death and the Dark Knight I Shall Become a Bat Determinism and the Dark Knight 22. “You Care for Everybody”: Cameron’s Ethics of Care Beyond “Doctor Knows Best”: Feminist Ethics “It Almost Looks Like He’s . . . Caring”: The Ethic of Care Does Cameron Care Too Much? You’re Basically “a Stuffed Animal Made by Grandma” 23. Vampire Love: The Second Sex Negotiates the Twenty-First Century Back in Time The Second Sex in the Twenty-first Century A Feminist Subtext The Price of Existence 24. Killing the Griffins: A Murderous Exposition of Postmodernism Family Guy is Real Family Guy is Serious Family Guy Must Die! Long Live Family Guy! Part VII: Social and Political Philosophy Introduction 25. Lost’s State of Nature Lining up for Peace Human Nature and Natural Man Amid the Wreckage The Longer Haul Over or Under the Language Barrier Confidence and the Con Men Roles and Rules Tit-for-Tat Gaining Trust from the Past 26. Laughter Between Distraction and Awakening: Marxist Themes in The Office The Class That Dare Not Speak Its Name Reading Marx at Work Running Out the Clock Downsizing Dreams 27. The Ethics of Torture in 24: Shockingly Banal Cultural Context of Torture Defining Torture Arguments for Torture Arguments Against Torture It’s Not That Simple 28. Mutants and the Metaphysics of Race Race and the X-Gene Mutants and Biological Race Mutants and Social Races The Difference between Mutants and Race Mutants as Racelike Part VIII: Eastern Views Introduction 29. Zen and the Art of Cylon Maintenance “Life is a Testament to Pain”: Suffering, Ignorance, and Interdependent Arising “All of This Has Happened Before . . .”: Karma and Rebirth “God Has a Plan for You, Gaius”: Religion, God, and Ken9sis “How Could Anyone Fall in Love with a Toaster?” Cylons as Persons? 30. The Sound of One House Clapping: The Unmannerly Doctor as Zen Rhetorician House, Zen, and Making Sense A Style of Behaving Ethically A Way of Establishing Intimacy A Path to Truth, and a Method of Healing House Sitting 31. The Tao of the Bat Part IX: The Meaning of Life Introduction 32. Beyond Godric’s Hollow: Life after Death and the Search for Meaning Death and Philosophy The Approaching Battle King’s Cross Station Reap a Destiny 33. Selfish, Base Animals Crawling Across the Earth: House and the Meaning of Life “If You Talk to God, You’re Religious; If God Talks to You, You’re Psychotic” Eternity, Anyone? “If Her DNA Was Off by One Percentage Point, She’d Be a Dolphin” “You Could Think I’m Wrong, but That’s No Reason to Stop Thinking” House and the Life of Reason Glossary Notes on Contributors Sources Index