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Index
Cover
Half Title page
Title page
Copyright page
Acknowledgments
Introduction
How to Use this Book in a Philosophy Course
Part I: What is Philosophy?
Introduction
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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?
Chapter 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
Chapter 9: Destiny in the Wizarding World
Varieties of Prophecy
Fallible Prophecies
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
Destiny
A Rodent’s Destiny
Time Travel and Fixed Time
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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?
Chapter 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
Chapter 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?
Chapter 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
Chapter 18: Metallica, Nietzsche, and Marx: The Immorality of Morality
Morality and Power
Metallica and Rebellion
Metallica, Nihilism, and Nostalgia
Chapter 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”
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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”
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
Chapter 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 Kenosis
“How Could Anyone Fall in Love with a Toaster?” Cylons as Persons?
Chapter 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
Chapter 31: The Tao of the Bat
Part IX: The Meaning of Life
Introduction
Chapter 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
Chapter 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
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