Ross Barlow Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 (edited) *Popular Culture and Philosophy* is a book series from Open Court publishers. Series Editor: William Irwin. This is a very interesting project and a lot of fun. If you have any interest in or background in philosophy, you might enjoy some of their titles. I only became aware of this book series when browsing through an Asia Books store in Bangkok and finding *The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All*, (2003), edited by Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson. On the basis of this one book – which is Number 5 in a series of a few dozen titles -- I would predict that certain volumes in the rest of the series (the titles of which I list below) may very well be of interest to many who read this. In my case, I know J.R.R. Tolkien’s *The Lord of the Rings* (TLOTR) fairly well, being a huge fan of both the books and the movies, and I must say that *TLOTR and Philosophy* is an extremely well done book. It is funny as well as thoughtful, interesting and informative. There are 17 contributors all of whom are professional philosophers and/or theologians who love Tolkien. There are many “inside” jokes that only Tolkien fans will fully understand and appreciate. The book is a delight because of the obvious shared love of the material by editors and contributing authors. The authors come from all over the philosophical map, providing views from quite diverse philosophical vantage points. I do not agree with all of them, but the essays are always instructive and mind-stretching. My favorite is Aeon Skoble’s application of Aristotelian virtue ethics to TLOTR. (Aeon Skoble is editor of *Reason Papers*.) I played a little game with myself while reading the book. I purposely did not look at the back of the book for the author’s profile paragraph until I had finished reading his or her essay. I did not want to start reading with a preconception, and I wanted to see how much I could guess about the author just from the text alone. Extrapolating from my own great appreciation of this one volume, I would urge you to seek out any of the titles below that might examine a particular topic for which you have a strong fondness and understanding. The following titles are in this Open Court series: Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book About Everything and Nothing. (2000). The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer. (2001). (Aeon Skoble, ed.) The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real. (2002). Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All. (2003). Baseball and Philosophy. (2004). The Sopranos and Philosophy: I Kill, Therefore I Am. (2004). Woody Allen and Philosophy. (2004). ed., Mark T. Conard and Aeon J. Skoble. Philosophy and Neo-Noir. Our Spiritual Crisis. Poker and Philosophy: Pocket Rockets and Philosopher Kings. Hip-Hop and Philosophy: Rhyme 2 Reason. The Philosophy of Science Fiction Film. The Beatles and Philosophy. U2 and Philosophy: How to Decipher an Atomic Band. James Bond and Philosophy. Bob Dylan and Philosophy. Star Wars and Philosophy. Hitchcock and Philosophy. The Undead and Philosophy: Chicken Soup for the Soulless. Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge, Nudge, Think, Think! The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch, & the Worldview. South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating. Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy. Bullshit and Philosophy. Pink Floyd and Philosophy. Harley-Davidson and Philosophy. More Matrix and Philosophy: Revolutions and Reloaded Decoded. The Grateful Dead and Philosophy. Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way. The Philosophy of Film Noir. The Atkins Diet and Philosophy. With such a variety of titles, there is probably something to offend or to elate near anyone. I hope that the series will keep expanding. I will send a follow-up post which is my review of *The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All*. Even if you do not like TLOTR, my review of it may give you an idea about the nature of the Open Court series by this one example from it. -Ross Barlow. Edited September 19, 2007 by Ross Barlow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaalChatzaf Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 *Popular Culture and Philosophy* is a book series from Open Court publishers. Series Editor: William Irwin. This is a very interesting project and a lot of fun. If you have any interest in or background in philosophy, you might enjoy some of their titles. I only became aware of this book series when browsing through an Asia Books store in Bangkok and finding *The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All*, (2003), edited by Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson. On the basis of this one book – which is Number 5 in a series of a few dozen titles -- I would predict that certain volumes in the rest of the series (the titles of which I list below) may very well be of interest to many who read this. In my case, I know J.R.R. Tolkien’s *The Lord of the Rings* (TLOTR) fairly well, being a huge fan of both the books and the movies, and I must say that *TLOTR and Philosophy* is an extremely well done book. It is funny as well as thoughtful, interesting and informative. There are 17 contributors all of whom are professional philosophers and/or theologians who love Tolkien. There are many “inside” jokes that only Tolkien fans will fully understand and appreciate. The book is a delight because of the obvious shared love of the material by editors and contributing authors. The authors come from all over the philosophical map, providing views from quite diverse philosophical vantage points. I do not agree with all of them, but the essays are always instructive and mind-stretching. My favorite is Aeon Skoble’s application of Aristotelian virtue ethics to TLOTR. (Aeon Skoble is editor of *Reason Papers*.) I played a little game with myself while reading the book. I purposely did not look at the back of the book for the author’s profile paragraph until I had finished reading his or her essay. I did not want to start reading with a preconception, and I wanted to see how much I could guess about the author just from the text alone. Extrapolating from my own great appreciation of this one volume, I would urge you to seek out any of the titles below that might examine a particular topic for which you have a strong fondness and understanding. The following titles are in this Open Court series: Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book About Everything and Nothing. (2000). The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh! of Homer. (2001). (Aeon Skoble, ed.) The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real. (2002). Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale. The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All. (2003). Baseball and Philosophy. (2004). The Sopranos and Philosophy: I Kill, Therefore I Am. (2004). Woody Allen and Philosophy. (2004). ed., Mark T. Conard and Aeon J. Skoble. Philosophy and Neo-Noir. Our Spiritual Crisis. Poker and Philosophy: Pocket Rockets and Philosopher Kings. Hip-Hop and Philosophy: Rhyme 2 Reason. The Philosophy of Science Fiction Film. The Beatles and Philosophy. U2 and Philosophy: How to Decipher an Atomic Band. James Bond and Philosophy. Bob Dylan and Philosophy. Star Wars and Philosophy. Hitchcock and Philosophy. The Undead and Philosophy: Chicken Soup for the Soulless. Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge, Nudge, Think, Think! The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy: The Lion, the Witch, & the Worldview. South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating. Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy. Bullshit and Philosophy. Pink Floyd and Philosophy. Harley-Davidson and Philosophy. More Matrix and Philosophy: Revolutions and Reloaded Decoded. The Grateful Dead and Philosophy. Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way. The Philosophy of Film Noir. The Atkins Diet and Philosophy. With such a variety of titles, there is probably something to offend or to elate near anyone. I hope that the series will keep expanding. I will send a follow-up post which is my review of *The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All*. Even if you do not like TLOTR, my review of it may give you an idea about the nature of the Open Court series by this one example from it. -Ross Barlow.Then you have just GOT to read -Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar- by Cathcart and Klein. It is the funniest goddamned book printed in the U.S. in the last twenty years and it deals with philosophical questions and issues in a humorous way. Verily, I guarantee you will pee in your pants if you read it, you will laugh so hard.I command you to read this book. Yea, in the Name of Jesus Christ and General Jackson, I command you to read this book. Ba'al Chatzaf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Barlow Posted September 19, 2007 Author Share Posted September 19, 2007 Then you have just GOT to read -Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar- by Cathcart and Klein. It is the funniest goddamned book printed in the U.S. in the last twenty years and it deals with philosophical questions and issues in a humorous way. Verily, I guarantee you will pee in your pants if you read it, you will laugh so hard.I command you to read this book. Yea, in the Name of Jesus Christ and General Jackson, I command you to read this book. Aye, Aye, Sir! I will look for it. My Asia Books store can get me most titles. Thanks for the recommendation. -Ross Barlow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Grieb Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 (edited) Bob; Let me join you in recommending Plato and the for all and sundry. It is a delightful book.Does anyone know the title of Shawn Klein's book about the Harry Potter series. This was a collection of philosophical essays about the Harry Potter novels. Is it part of this series. Edited September 19, 2007 by Chris Grieb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara Branden Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 Ross, what an interesting idea for a series. I'll look up the ones on Woody Allen, Hitchcock, Film Noir, and the Atkins Diet. (I think I just told you the story of my life.) Ba'al, I've just started reading Plato and a Platypus. So far, so good.Barbara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studiodekadent Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 South Park and Philosophy... now THAT sounds good.(Although many SP episodes display some element of moral confusion, but who cares since the show is funny as hell) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Grieb Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 South Park's producers have described themselves as libertarian. They frequently skewer pc topics, a show making fun of anti Wal Mart hysteria. Another where a Starbucks drives a small coffee shop but the Starbucks has better coffee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Gagne Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 "Nudge, Nudge, Think, Think" INDEED!Say no more! Say no more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Grieb Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 A check of Amazon suggests the Harry Potter and Philosophy which Shawn Klein is one of the co-authors is an Open Court book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Barlow Posted January 8, 2009 Author Share Posted January 8, 2009 *Popular Culture and Philosophy,* Part 2. The book series *Popular Culture and Philosophy* was originally published by Open Court publishers, but now it seems to have turned into the Blackwell *Philosophy and Pop Culture* series, published by Wiley and with the same series editor. Notice a subtle change of name, but it seems to be the same idea. So if you are interested in looking at any topic treated in these series, be aware of two different publishers named when you search. This general series idea seems to be expanding rapidly, with new titles appearing all the time, and I cannot keep up with it. It seems that, if they keep it up, they will eventually have a book for every popular topic. Then there will no excuse for anyone for not venturing into philosophical readings. (Yet I am far behind in keeping up with pop culture, so I am out of the loop in most of these topics, especially anything to do with TV.) I had originally read and reviewed *The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All,* and on the strength of that one volume – whose subject matter I felt quite familiar with – I predict that other volumes may be of interest. (See my other postings about the series in general and/or my review of the Tolkien volume.) I just bought *Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul* (2008). It is dedicated “To the memory of Heath Ledger (1979-2008).” It will be a while before I ever get to it, because I am trying to finish *The Beatles and Philosophy: Nothing You Can Think That Can’t Be Thunk* and review that. In the bookstore I saw *Beer and Philosophy,* but I did not buy it because I have terrible taste in beer. Here in Thailand I put ice cubes in my beer, so that tells you where I’m coming from. Some additional titles listed in the new Blackwell continuation of the series are: *Metallica and Philosophy* *Family Guy and Philosophy* *The Daily Show and Philosophy* *Lost and Philosophy* *24 and Philosophy* *Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy* *The Office and Philosophy* *House and Philosophy* *Heroes and Philosophy* Enjoy. .-Ross Barlow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reidy Posted January 8, 2009 Share Posted January 8, 2009 Aeon Skoble, co-author of the Simpsons volume, was a speaker at the TAS 2002 summer conference.I wish this had been around in the days of Dynasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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