The Simpsons and Philosophy The D'oh! of Homer Popular Culture and Philosophy, Volume 02 Edited by William Irwin, Mark T. Conard, and Aeon J. Skoble.pdf

The Simpsons and Philosophy

The D'oh! of Homer

Popular Culture and Philosophy, Volume 02

Edited by William Irwin, Mark T. Conard, and Aeon J. Skoble

a.b.e-book v3.0 / Notes at EOF

(Annotations appear at the end of each essay)

Back Cover:

No less an authority than Homer Simpson himself has declared: "Cartoons don't

have any deep meaning. They're just stupid drawings that give you a cheap laugh."

Don't have a cow, man. Here comes a squadron of erudite scholars with the guts to

challenge even Homer's pessimistic view of his family's historic plight.

Does Homer Simpson really exhibit Aristotelian virtues? Can we learn from

Maggie about the value of silence? Is Bart the kind of individual Nietzsche was trying to

warn us about? How does Lisa illuminate American ambivalence toward intellectuals?

Here we can find out about irony and the meaning of life, the politics of the nuclear

family, Marxism in Springfield, the elusiveness of happiness, popular parody as a form of

tribute, and why we need animated TV shows. As if all that weren't enough, this book

actually contains the worst philosophy essay ever.

Now that we have The Simpsons and Philosophy, we can all rub our hands together

and say, in a slow, sinister, breathy voice: "Excellent. . ."

"Most scholars of mass art hold themselves at a distance from their subject. The authors in

this volume really immerse themselves in The Simpsons , and the result is this absolutely

unique book. Go for it!" -- Professor David Carrier, Carnegie Mellon University

"Bill Irwin and his colleagues have done it again: they have produced a terrific volume. Not

only is The Simpsons and Philosophy highly educational, it enhances the viewing and

re-viewing of the Simpsons episodes, and sheds a new light on the series." -- Professor Per

Broman, Butler University, Indianapolis

"What a great book! The chapters are by turns fun, profound, and instructive. I recommend

it to everyone, whether already a Simpsons fan or not. You'll be surprised at what wisdom

lurks in these pages." -- Tom Morris, Author of If Aristotle Ran General Motors

"The Simpsons and Philosophy is a great place to begin any program in Simpsons studies.

A serious look at a funny subject." -- Mark I. Pinsky, Author of The Gospel According to

The Simpsons

William Irwin, Mark T. Canard, and Aeon J. Skoble all contributed to Seinfeld and

Philosophy (2000), which Irwin edited. Irwin is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at

King's College, Pennsylvania, and author of Intentionalist Interpretation (1999). Dr.

Conard has published scholarly articles on Kant, Nietzsche, and Quentin Tarantino. Dr.

Skoble teaches philosophy at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and has co-edited

Political Philosophy: Essential Selections (1999).

Popular Culture and Philosophy

General Editor: William Irwin

Volume 01

Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing (2000)

Edited by William Irwin

Volume 02

The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer (2001)

Edited by William Irwin, Mark T. Conard, and Aeon J. Skoble

Volume 03

The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002)

Edited by William Irwin

In Preparation:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy (2003)

Edited by James B. South

The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy (2003)

Edited by Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson

Woody Allen and Philosophy (2004)

Edited by Mark T. Conard and Aeon J. Skoble

Volume 2 in the series, Popular Culture and Philosophy

To order books from Open Court, call toll free 1-800-815-2280.

Chapter 11 was originally published in Political Theory 27 (1999),

pp. 734-749, and is reprinted here by permission of the author

and Sage Publications, Inc.

Open Court Publishing Company is a division of Carus Publishing Company.

Fourteenth printing 2002

Fifteenth printing 2002

Sixteenth printing 2003

Seventeenth printing 2003

Eighteenth printing 2003

Nineteenth printing 2003

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any

means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,

without the prior written permission of the publisher, Open Court

Publishing Company, a division of Carus Publishing Company, 315

Fifth Street, P.O. Box 300, Peru, Illinois, 61354-0300.

Printed and bound in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

The Simpsons and philosophy : the d'oh! of Homer /

edited by William Irwin, Mark Conard, and Aeon Skoble.

p. cm. -- (Popular culture and philosophy ; v.2)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-8126-9433-3 (alk. paper)

1. Philosophy -- Miscellanea. 2. Simpsons. (Television program) --

Miscellanea. I. Irwin, William, 1970- II. Conard, Mark, 1965-

III. Skoble, Aeon J. IV Series

B68 .S55 2001

100 -- dc21 00-069897

Dedicated to Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure

(whom you might remember from such TV shows as The Simpsons)

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Meditations on Springfield?

Part I - The Characters

1. Homer and Aristotle

RAJA HALWANI

2. Lisa and American Anti-intellectualism

AEON J. SKOBLE

3. Why Maggie Matters: Sounds of Silence, East and West

ERIC BRONSON

4. Marge's Moral Motivation

GERALD J. ERION and JOSEPH A. ZECCARDI

5. Thus Spake Bart: On Nietzsche and the Virtues of Being Bad

MARK T. CONARD

Part II - Simpsonian Themes

6. The Simpsons and Allusion: "Worst Essay Ever"

WILLIAM IRWIN and J.R. LOMBARDO

7. Popular Parody: The Simpsons Meets the Crime Film

DEBORAH

KNIGHT

8. The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the Meaning of Life

CARL MATHESON

9. Simpsonian Sexual Politics

DALE E. SNOW and JAMES J. SNOW

Part III - I Didn't Do It: Ethics and The Simpsons

10. The Moral World of the Simpson Family: A Kantian Perspective

JAMES LAWLER

11. The Simpsons: Atomistic Politics and the Nuclear Family

PAUL A. CANTOR

12. Springfield Hypocrisy

JASON HOLT

13. Enjoying the so-called "Iced Cream": Mr. Burns, Satan, and Happiness

DANIEL BARWICK

14. Hey-diddily-ho, Neighboreenos: Ned Flanders and Neighborly Love

DAVID VESSEY

MCMAHON

15. The Function of Fiction: The Heuristic Value of Homer

JENNIFER L.

Part IV - The Simpsons and the Philosophers

16. A (Karl, not Groucho) Marxist in Springfield

JAMES M. WALLACE

17. "And the Rest Writes Itself: Roland Barthes Watches The Simpsons

DAVID L. G. ARNOLD

18. What Bart Calls Thinking

KELLY DEAN JOLLEY

Episode List

Based on Ideas By

Featuring the Voices Of

Index

Acknowledgments

The writing, editing, and other miscellaneous tasks involved in producing The

Simpsons and Philosophy amounted to a fun and stimulating experience. We would like to

thank the contributors for keeping both a sense of professionalism and a sense of humor

throughout the project. We would sincerely like to thank the good folks at Open Court,

particularly David Ramsay Steele and Jennifer Asmuth for their advice and assistance. And,

last but not least, we would like to thank our friends, colleagues, and students with whom

we discussed The Simpsons and philosophy, who helped make the work possible, and who

offered valuable feedback on the work in progress. A list such as this is almost inevitably

incomplete, but among those to whom we are indebted are: Trisha Allen, Lisa Bahnemann,

Anthony Hartle, Megan Lloyd, Jennifer O'Neill, and Peter Stromberg.

Introduction:

Meditations on Springfield?

How many philosophers does it take to write a book about The Simpsons?

Apparently, about 20 to write it and 3 to edit. But that's not so bad, considering it takes 300

people 8 months, at a cost of 1.5 million dollars, to make a single episode of The Simpsons.

Seriously, though, don't we have other work to do besides writing about TV shows? The

short answer is yes, we do, but we enjoyed writing these essays, and we hope you'll enjoy

reading them.

The seeds for this volume were sown a few years ago. When the popular comedy

Seinfeld was going off the air, William Irwin had a quirky idea -- a collection of

philosophical essays on the "show about nothing." He and his philosopher pals enjoyed the

show and engaged in many humorous and stimulating discussions about it, so why not

share the fun in the form of a book? The people at Open Court had the vision, fortitude, and

sense of humor to take on the project, and so Irwin found himself editing Seinfeld and

Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing. The book was a true success, not only

among academics, but among the general public as well.

Another television show Irwin and his friends enjoyed and had discussed is The

Simpsons, They appreciated its irony, its irreverence, and they realized that -- like Seinfeld

-- it was a rich and fertile ground for philosophical investigation and discussion. So Irwin

decided to put together a second volume, this one on The Simpsons, and he asked two of the

contributors to the Seinfeld book, Mark Conard and Aeon Skoble, to co-edit the work.

Once again, Open Court applauded the idea, and if you're reading this, you're obviously at

least a little interested in either philosophy, The Simpsons, or both. The concept is the same:

the show has enough intelligence and depth to warrant some philosophical discussion, and

as a popular show, can also serve as a vehicle for exploring a variety of philosophical

issues for a general audience.

The Simpsons is rich in satire. Without question it is one of the most intelligent and

literate comedies on television today. (We know that's not saying much, but still. . .) It may

seem incongruous to those who have dismissed it as a mere cartoon about an oaf and his

family (and we've seen plenty of those) to say that the show is intelligent and literate, but

attentive viewing reveals levels of comedy far beyond farce. We see layer upon layer of

satire, double meanings, allusions to high as well as popular culture, sight gags, parody,

and self-referential humor. In response to Homer's criticism of a cartoon that his kids are

watching, Lisa replies, "If cartoons were meant for adults, they'd be on in prime time!"

Despite Lisa's words, The Simpsons is clearly for adults, and it's superficial to dismiss the

show merely because it is popular and animated.

Matt Groening studied philosophy in college, but none of the contributors to this

book believes there is a deep underlying philosophy to Groening's cartoon. This is not "the

philosophy of The Simpsons" or "The Simpsons as philosophy"; it's The Simpsons and

Philosophy. We're not attempting to convey the intended meaning of Groening and the

legion of writers and artists who work on the show. Rather, we're highlighting the

philosophical significance of The Simpsons as we see it. Some of the essays in this book are

the reflections of academics on a show they like and which they think says something

about an aspect of philosophy. For example, Daniel Barwick looks to the miserly

curmudgeon, Mr. Burns, to determine if we can learn something about the nature of

happiness from Burns's unhappiness. Others explore the thought of a philosopher by

making use of one of the characters. For instance, Mark Conard raises the question, Can

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