South Park and Philosophy (eBook)

You Know, I Learned Something Today

Robert Arp (Herausgeber)

eBook Download: PDF

2009 | 1. Auflage
256 Seiten
Wiley (Verlag)
978-1-4051-8153-2 (ISBN)

Infos

If you think Saddam and Satan make a kinky couple, wait till you get a load of South Park and Philosophy. Get your Big Wheels ready, because we’re going for a ride, as 22 philosophers take us down the road to understanding the big-picture issues in this small mountain town.

• A smart and candid look at one of television’s most subversive and controversial shows, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year
  
• Draws close parallels between the irreverent nature of South Park and the inquiring and skeptical approach of philosophy
  
• Addresses the perennial questions of the show, and the contemporary social and political issues that inspire each episode
  
• Uses familiar characters and episodes to illustrate topics such as moral relativism, freedom of expression, gay marriage, blasphemy, democracy, feminism, animal ethics, existential questions and much more
  
• makes you laugh out loud

Autor

Robert Arp teaches philosophy at Southwest Minnesota State University, and his book Scenario Visualization: An Evolutionary Account of Creative Problem Solving, is forthcoming with MIT Press. He is also co-editor (with Francisco Ayala) of Contemporary Debates in the Philosophy of Biology (Blackwell, forthcoming).

Inhalt

South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned SomethingToday.

Edited by Robert Arp.

Contents.

Sucking Balls and Fucking Off: An Introduction to The BothersomeSouth Park and Philosophy.

Robert Arp.

I. TAKING SOUTH PARK SERIOUSLY...M'KAY.

1. Flatulence and Philosophy: A Lot of Hot Air, or theCorruption of Youth?.

William W. Young III.

2. Is It Okay to Laugh at South Park?.

Catherine Yu.

3. Blasphemous Humor in South Park.

Kevin J. Murtagh.

4. The Chewbacca Defense: A South Park Logic Lesson.

Robert Arp.

II. THE FAB FOUR.

5. You Know, I Learned Something Today: Stan Marsh and theEthics of Belief.

Henry Jacoby.

6. Respect My Authorita! Is Cartman "The Law," andEven If He Is, Why Should We Obey Him?.

Mark D. White.

7. Oh My God! They Killed Kenny... Again: Kenny andExistentialism.

Karin Fry.

8. The Philosophical Passion of the Jew: Kyle thePhilosopher.

William J. Devlin.

III. THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH PARK.

9. The Invisible Gnomes and the Invisible Hand: SouthPark and Libertarian Philosophy.

Paul A. Cantor.

10. South Park and the Open Society: Defending DemocracyThrough Satire.

David Valleau Curtis and Gerald J. Erion.

11. "Vote or Die, Bitch": The Myth that Every VoteCounts and the Pitfalls of a Two-Party System.

John Scott Gray.

IV. ETHICS: DUDE... GAY MUSLIMS DON'T EATVEAL.

12. They Satirized My Prophet...Those Bastards! SouthPark and Blasphemy.

David R. Koepsell.

13. You Can't Get Married, You're Faggots: Mrs.Garrison and the Gay Marriage Debate.

Jacob M. Held.

14. Just Don't Kill Baby Cows.

Cynthia McWilliams.

15. Four-Assed Monkeys: Genetics and Gen-Ethics in Small-TownColorado.

Scott Calef.

V. WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU? WHORES, ROBOTS, AND BODIES.

16. Raisins, Whores, and Boys: Gender and Sexuality in SouthPark.

Ellen Miller.

17. AWESOM-O and the Possibility and Implications of ArtificialIntelligence.

Randall M. Jensen.

18. Stan's Future Self and Evil Cartman: Personal Identityin South Park.

Shai Biderman.

VI. SATAN, SUFFERING, SUPER BEST FRIENDS, AND SONG.

19. Cartmanland and the Problem of Evil.

David Kyle Johnson.

20. Religious Pluralism and The Super Best Friends.

Jeffrey Dueck.

21. Aesthetic Value, Ethos, and Phil Collins: The Power of Musicin South Park.

Per F. Broman.

22. Satan, Lord of Darkness, in South Park Cosmology.

Dale Jacquette.

Chef's Salty Ball-less Index.

The Super Best Contributors.

Special Surprise Bonus!.

Screw You Guys... I'm Going Home

Rezensionen

"Twenty-two philosophers can't be wrong. Here to confirmsuspicions that a relevant subtext exists beneath the potty-mouthedfacade of Comedy Central's "South Park" (now inits 10th season) is this indispensable collection ofthought-provoking essays." Boston Herald, January 5,2007.

"Move over, Kant. South Park and Philosophyembodies a new categorical imperative: Read this collection, laugh,and think."
Nick Gillespie, Editor-in-Chief of Reason magazine

"Give Cartman some hemlock to drink so he can joinSocrates for a meeting of the minds! Troubled by such philosophicalconundrums as free will and determinism or the existence of God?Worry no more. Here you will find the way, the truth, and thelight. Or not. Either way, if this book can't interest thisgeneration in philosophy, then we're allscrewed."
Michael Shermer, Publisher of Skeptic magazine, monthlycolumnist for Scientific American, and the author of Why DarwinMatters

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 4.2.2009
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften
• Schlagworte: Philosophie • Philosophy • South Park
• ISBN-10: 1-4051-8153-2 / 1405181532
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-8153-2 / 9781405181532