| | The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer. William Irwin, Mark Conrad, and Aeon Skoble, editors.
As a big fan of The Simpsons,
I'll admit the sitcom is much easier to swallow than philosophy,
which I try to like but have a hard time deciphering on
my own. So finding this book, it appeared somebody found
a way to express philosophical thinking to the masses, using
the depth and appeal of our favorite animated family. Eighteen
essays fit into four categories that focus on the characters,
recurring themes in the show, ethics, and specific philosophers.
Some essays rely heavily on quotes and episodes from the
show to express philosophical ideas, while others speak
philosophically with occasional reference to the show. Most
people will enjoy reading the former, though each essay
has something interesting to say. For example, Skoble's
essay, "Lisa and American Anti-Intellectualism"
hits the nail on the head regarding the intellectual gap
the book attempts to fill, while Conrad's contribution,
"Thus Spake Bart" is a great primer on Nietzsche,
the "bad-boy" of philosophy.
Certainly nothing groundbreaking
exists in these pages regarding philosophy, and analyzing
comedy does run the risk of draining the life from it, but
the book succeeds in finding a way to explain a gamut of
ideas from the origins of philosophy in ancient Greece to
twentieth century thinkers, while also illuminating parts
of The Simpsons that even hard-core fans may have
missed.
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