The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh of Homer eds: Irwin, Conrad & Skoble
review by: Ben MacKenzie '05
As college students we pride ourselves on two things: procrastination and useless trivia. As a die hard Simpsons fan I have many such useless tidbits of information devoted to Matt Groening's popular television family. However, once I started college the amount of time I spent watching The Simpsons diminished, and I've often heard fellow students complaining about the same problem. Well fear not friends for I have found an answer McBain himself couldn't discover (he still can't decide if he has loafers on or not). For those of us in desperate need of synergizing Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie with schoolwork, The Simpsons and Philosophy couldn't come at a better time.The Simpsons and Philosophy tickles everyone's funny bone while giving fans pause to scratch their proverbial noggin' (without the aid of jug band music). For philosophy beginners, the Simpsons makes the task of starting to study less daunting. For serious fans of the show, the intriguing ideas of Maggie's silence portraying true wisdom, Lisa as an example of anti-intellectualism or Mr. Burns as an anti-marxian hero to our flourishing capitalist society, illuminate an already well-developed adoration of the famously dysfunctional family.
If you love (or have friends forcing you to love) The Simpsons, philosophy or both, The Simpsons and Philosophy offers a delightful primer full of the show's uproarious writing and down to earth theories of famous philosophers.