“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!”<br /> <i>Dave Baggett, editor of Harry Potter and Philosophy and Hitchcock and Philosophy</i><br /> <p>“This book doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever, which obviously means it’s brilliant.”<br /> <i>Joey Green, author of The Bathroom Professor: Philosophy on the Go</i><br /> </p> <p>"Author cooks up a big bowl of philosophy stew while exposing the Family Guy for what it is; a beacon of post-modernism."<br /> <i>TLChicken.com</i><br /> </p> <p>“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.” <i>Associated Content</i></p>
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?
That's right. We've done it. We've brought together lowbrow, potty-mouthed, cartoon humor and highbrow philosophical reflection. Ok, it's not that highbrow, but the results are outrageously delicious. In Family Guy and Philosophy we tackle the perennial positions of the show and contemplate a little philosophy to boot!
Is Family Guy really a vehicle for conservative politics? What's so funny about dysfunctional families? Should we all be offended by the show? This book gathers original essays from premier philosophers to get behind the punchlines and find out what we're really laughing at. And of course we dive into the philosophy of the cast as well, asking the important questions, like: What the hell is wrong with Stewie? Who is more human, Peter or Brian? Is Lois a feminist? Is there anything virtuous about Quagmire?
Family Guy and Philosophy takes an introspective look at what this show can teach us about the ego, ethics, religion, death, and of course, time-travel, and delivers a merciless exploration of one of TV's most unrelenting families.