Family Guy and Philosophy brings together low-brow, potty-mouthed, cartoon humor and high-brow philosophical reflection to deliver an outrageously hilarious and clever exploration of one of TV's most unrelenting families. Ok, it's not that high-brow.
A sharp, witty and absurd exploration of one of television's most unrelenting families, the stars of one of the biggest-selling TV series ever on DVD, now in its fourth season Tackles the perennial positions of Family Guy at the same time as contemplating poignant philosophical issues Takes an introspective look at what this show can teach us about ethics, ego, religion, death, and of course, time-travel Considers whether Family Guy is really a vehicle for conservative politics, and whether we should be offended by the show, as well as diving into the philosophy of the cast
Acknowledgments: These People Are Freakin’ Sweet viii You Better Not Read This, Pal: An Introduction to Family Guy and Philosophy 1 J. Jeremy Wisnewski Part I Those Good Ole’ Fashion Values on Which We Used to Rely 3 1 Killing the Griffins: A Murderous Exposition of Postmodernism 5 J. Jeremy Wisnewski 2 Family Guy and God: Should Believers Take Offense? 16 Raymond J. VanArragon 3 Quagmire: Virtue and Perversity 27 Shaun Miller 4 Francis Griffin and the Church of the Holy Fonz: Religious Exclusivism and “Real” Religion 36 David Kyle Johnson Part II Lucky There’s a Family Guy! (And What a Family!) 49 5 Let Us Now Praise Clueless Men: Peter Griffin and Philosophy 51 Jerry Samet 6 Lois: Portrait of a Mother (Or, Nevermind Death, Motherhood is a Bitch) 59 Stephanie Empey 7 Mmmyez: Stewie and the Seven Deadly Sins 74 Sharon M. Kaye 8 The Other Children: The Importance of Meg and Chris 87 P. Sue Dohnimm 9 He Thinks He’s People: How Brian Made Personhood for the Dogs 99 Daniel Malloy Part III He-He-He-He-He. You Expected More Lyrics, But You’re Getting Logic, Comedy, and The Logic of Comedy 113 10 The Logic of Expectation: Family Guy and the Non Sequitur 115 Jonah P. B. Goldwater 11 What Are You Laughing At (And Why)? Exploring the Humor of Family Guy 128 Andrew Terjesen 12 Thinkin’ is Freakin’ Sweet: Family Guy and Fallacies 139 Robert Arp 13 The Simpsons Already Did It! This Show is a Freakin’ Rip-Off! 149 Shai Biderman and William J. Devlin Part #F1 Family Problems 161 14 Is Brian More of a “Person” than Peter? Of Wills, Wantons, and Wives 163 Mark D. White 15 The Ego is a Housewife Named Lois 175 Robert Sharp 16 The Lives and Times of Stewie Griffin 186 Tuomas Manninen 17 Kierkegaard and the Norm (MacDonald) of Death 198 Adam Buben Appendix: Everything You Ever Needed to Know about Meg Griffin, as Compiled by the Contributors 209 Notes on Contributors: What the Deuce!?! They’re Real! (Most of Them, Anyway) 210 Index: He-He-He-He-He-He .You Read Books 214 1 That’s right, freakin’ #F. What are you, some kind of mathematician?
J. Jeremy Wisnewski is Assistant Professor at Hartwick College. He is the author of Wittgenstein and Ethical Inquiry: A Defense of Ethics as Clarification (2007) and The Politics of Agency: Toward a Pragmatic Approach to Philosophical Anthropology (2008). He is also the editor of The Office and Philosophy (Blackwell, 2008).
Reviews for Family Guy and Philosophy: A Cure for the Petarded
Maddening in its irreverent audacity, this book reminds me of an old girlfriend: iconoclastic and argumentative, occasionally insane but always entertaining, with a soul of which Stewie could be proud. I couldn't pull myself away! Dave Baggett, editor of Harry Potter and Philosophy and Hitchcock and Philosophy This book doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever, which obviously means it's brilliant. Joey Green, author of The Bathroom Professor: Philosophy on the Go Author cooks up a big bowl of philosophy stew while exposing the Family Guy for what it is; a beacon of post-modernism. TLChicken.com It is a rare opportunity to philosophically deconstruct life's absurdities ... . We can laugh in the face of life's troublesome ideas and attempt to understand them. Associated Content
