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

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