Pop Culture and Philosophy – serie

The New York Times have praised Dave Chappelle as “an American folk hero” for his ability to communicate across lines of race, class, and culture at a time when Americans are more polarized than they have ever been. Dave Chappelle and Philosophy brings together twenty-five chapters by philosophers of diverse backgrounds and varying points of view, looking closely at the hilarious, annoying, exhilarating, upsetting, and thought-provoking aspects of Chappelle’s wonderfully rich output. This volume of the Series serves as an invitation to think about some of the most urgent moral and political questions of our time.

When most people think of anime, they think of large-eyed adolescents fighting fearsome monsters (kaijū). On the surface, Neon Genesis Evangelion is just the same, filled with destructive explosions and gigantic EVA missiles that can only be piloted by super-hot teens. But as every otaku knows, anime as a stylized artform has much more to offer, often pushing the artistic, emotional, and intellectual boundaries of its audiences with its storylines. Neon Genesis Evangelion is one such anime: beyond the fearsome monsters and Evangelions, Neon Genesis explores the depths of the psyches of the adolescents when they become the very weapons needed to destroy the onslaught of Angels. The emotional complexities of the show make Neon Genesis Evangelion an emotional and intellectually challenging anime to watch. Fortunately, many of us do not undergo as extreme of experiences facing Shinji, Rei, and Asuka. But many of us do face tragedies that prompt us to ask questions about our own existence, how to live, and how to relate to others. Neon Genesis Evangelion and Philosophy encourages readers to take a moment to explore the wide range of philosophical topics found within the anime to challenge and encourage you to reflect on who you are and how to live with others.

“All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses, his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.”Karl Marx might have been thinking of punk rock when he wrote these words in 1847, but he overlooked the possibility that new forms of solidity and holiness could spring into existence overnight.Punk rock was a celebration of nastiness, chaos, and defiance of convention, which quickly transcended itself and developed its own orthodoxies, shibboleths, heresies, and sectarian wars.Is punk still alive today? What has it left us with? Does punk make any artistic sense? Is punk inherently anarchist, sexist, neo-Nazi, Christian, or—perish the thought—Marxist? When all’s said and done, does punk simply suck?These obvious questions only scratch the surface of punk’s philosophical ramifications, explored in depth in this unprecedented and thoroughly nauseating volume.Thirty-two professional thinkers-for-a-living and students of rock turn their x-ray eyes on this exciting and frequently disgusting topic, and penetrate to punk’s essence, or perhaps they end up demonstrating that it has no essence. You decide.Among the nail-biting questions addressed in this book:● Can punks both reject conformity to ideals and complain that poseurs fail to confirm to the ideals of punk?● How and why can social protest take the form of arousing revulsion by displaying bodily functions and bodily abuse?● Can punk ethics be reconciled with those philosophical traditions which claim that we should strive to become the best version of ourselves?● How close is the message of Jesus of Nazareth to the message of punk?● Is punk essentially the cry of cis, white, misogynist youth culture, or is there a more wholesome appeal to irrepressibly healthy tendencies like necrophilia, coprophilia, and sadomasochism?● In its rejection of the traditional aesthetic of order and complexity, did punk point the way to “aesthetic anarchy,” based on simplicity and chaos?● By becoming commercially successful, did punk fail by its very success?● Is punk what Freddie Nietzsche was getting at in The Birth of Tragedy, when he called for Dionysian art, which venerates the raw, instinctual, and libidinous aspects of life?

Better Call Sauland Philosophy: I Think Therefore I Scam is a collection of twenty-three essaysexploring the philosophical themes in the hit television show Better CallSaul, a prequel to the TV show Breaking Bad.  The sixth and final season of Better CallSaul aired from April to August 2022.The central character is JimmyMcGill, whom we know from Breaking Bad as Saul Goodman.  In Better Call Saul he first takes thename of Saul Goodman from the phrase “S’all Good, Man!” Jimmy/Saul is a naturalcon artist who not only scams from self-interest but also because he enjoys it.He has a strange relationship with his brother, the distinguished lawyerCharles McGill, who resents Jimmy’s delinquency and advantage in parentalaffection. Jimmy/Saul becomes a lawyer for a drug cartel, and most of the peoplehe meets are criminals and other kinds of villains.Like Breaking Bad, BetterCall Saul raises a wide range of philosophical issues including the natureof good and evil, personal identity, free will and determinism, the law as itrelates to morality, the ethical implications of the war on drugs, death anddying, and many more. Better Call Saul and Philosophy offers thoughtfulfans of the show deeper and more provocative insights into the story and thecharacters.          Topics covered include: the moralityof keeping promises to wrongdoers, the nature of psychosomatic illness,difficult moral choices facing lawyers, just how good or bad are some of thecompromised characters in the show, the unintended consequences of the War onDrugs, the similarities between drug cartels and governments, whether badpeople are just unlucky, the perils of self-deception, and whether we everreally have much of a choice.Better Call Saul and Philosophyis Volume 8 in the path-breaking series, Pop Culture and Philosophy.

Queen and Philosophy: Guaranteed to Blow Your Mind is a collection of cutting-edge philosophical essays on the rock group Queen, founded in 1970 and originally featuring lead vocalist Freddie Mercury.  Queen’s reputation and fan following continue to grow in the twenty-first century. These insightful and provocative chapters include:● uncover the origins of Queen’s unique style in prog rock, vulgarity, and lower versus higher Romanticism● examine Queen’s view of love and friendship● draw upon three timeless Queen songs, “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” and “Don’t Stop Me Now” and Socrates’s behavior in the Apology, to understand the “rocking” nature of philosophy● identify the connections between ancient matriarchal religion and Queen’s love for strong female imagery● explore how Brian May’s astrophysics brings to bear the issues of absolute versus relative spacetime and how the philosophies of Newton, Mach, and Einstein contribute to Queen’s creative output● analyze the structure of Queen’s sound to answer the inevitable question, How can four people make all that music?● expose what Queen’s songs tell us about the contemporary theory of mental illness and therapy● scrutinize Roger Taylor’s stark impressions of ordinary life and death, and their alignment to the cynical musings of Diogenes of Sinope and Seneca’s blunt observations on the shortness of life● look at the movie Highlander through the music of Queen and reveal how both song and cinema convey the philosophy of bushido, the soul of the samurai

Pokémon is one of the most amazing pop culture phenomena of our epoch, with deep metaphysical roots and profound philosophical implications. Pokémon and Philosophy celebrates this cultural icon while helping its readers unpack the hidden secrets of Pokémon. In this collection of essays, modern-day philosophers examine and dissect the video game extravaganza. They explore its creators' original intent to entertain audiences, as well as examine the expansion of the Pokémon empire and its various wide-reaching effects on Western popular culture. Using a collection of diverse backgrounds, cutting-edge arguments, and convictions, Pokémon and Philosophy encourages its readers to stay curious and to explore the world of Pokémon a little further in our attempt to philosophically ‘catch ’em all’! This is the latest edition in our series, Pop Culture and Philosophy.