The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh!

of Homer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 3/7/11 12:41 AM

The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer is a non- The Simpsons and Philosophy:
fiction book analyzing the philosophy and popular culture effects The D'oh! of Homer
of the American animated sitcom, The Simpsons, published by
Open Court. The book is edited by William Irwin, Mark T.
Conard and Aeon J. Skoble, each of whom also wrote one of the
eighteen essays in the book.[1]

The book was released on February 28, 2001, as the second

volume of Open Court Publishing's Popular Culture and
Philosophy series, which currently includes thirty-three books. [2]
The book has gone on to be extremely successful, both in sales
and critically, and is also used as a main text in various
universities with philosophy courses.

Book cover
Contents Author William Irwin, Mark T.
Conard, Aeon J. Skoble
1 Contents
2 Reception Illustrator Joan Sommers Design
3 See also
4 References Country United States
Language English

Series Popular Culture and

Contents Philosophy (Vol. 2)

The book includes contributions from eighteen academics in the Subject(s) Philosophy, The Simpsons
field of philosophy. Topics included are comparisons of the Genre(s) Non-fiction
characters in the show, such as Homer Simpson and Aristotle, or
Bart Simpson and Friedrich Nietzsche.[3] The book brings up Publisher Open Court
topics such as why Homer's appeal is universal by arguing that Publication date February 28, 2001
he speaks to fundamental conflicts about what gives human
Pages 256
pleasure. [4]
ISBN ISBN 0-8126-9433-3
Other topics include the manner in which the show makes
Preceded by Seinfeld and Philosophy: A
philosophical statements, and its opinions on sexuality in
Book about Everything and
politics. [5] Religion is also discussed in the book, such as the
guilt Homer feels for not going to church, or Ned Flanders Nothing

experiencing tragedies, despite following the Bible closely. [6] Followed by The Matrix and Philosophy

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The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 3/7/11 12:41 AM

Reception
The book was highly successful, selling over 203,000 copies, making it the best selling book in the Open Court
Publishing's Popular Culture and Philosophy series. [3] The book was also critically successful, highlighting the
philosophical themes that the book was able to make with The Simpsons [7] , such as Booklist, who wrote,
"[...]these pieces make erudite concepts accessible by viewing things through the lens of a great cartoon
series,"[3] or Publishers Weekly who wrote, "Fans of The Simpsons are certain to find this book to be the
perfect rebuttal for those who dismiss the show as a no-brainer."[5]

At Siena Heights University a course titled "Animated Philosophy and Religion" uses the book as one of the
main texts in order to help teach philosophy. [8][9][10] The book has been praised for being able to make
connections to philosophical studies and to youth, by using popular culture [11] . The professors who use the
book say the book "helps draw people to philosophy."[12] A course titled "Simpsons and Philosophy", devoted
entirely to the show & philosophy, is offered at the University of California, Berkeley[13] as part of the
university's controversial DeCal program in which students take courses taught by their peers.[14]

Steve Carroll of The Age criticized the book and others like it for watering down philosophical content while
making tenuous connections with popular themes in order to maximize appeal to consumers. [15] The book was
satirized in an article titled "The 'Popular Culture and Philosophy' Books and Philosophy: Philosophy, You’ve
Officially Been Pimped", in the online journal Flow TV.[16]

See also
List of The Simpsons publications
Planet Simpson: How a Cartoon Masterpiece Documented an Era and Defined a Generation
The Psychology of The Simpsons

References
1. ^ Irwin, William (editor); Mark Conard, Aeon Skoble (co editors) (February 28, 2001). The Simpsons and Philosophy:
The D'oh! of Homer. Blackwell Publishing (The Blackwell Philosophy & Pop Culture Series). ISBN 0812694333.
2. ^ "Popular Culture and Philosophy series" (http://www.opencourtbooks.com/categories/pcp.htm)
www.opencourtbooks.com. Retrieved on November 28, 2007
3. ^ a b c Green, John (April 15, 2001). "The Simpsons and Philosophy: the D'oh of Homer. Review"
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0812694333) . Booklist (American Library Association) 97
(16): Page 1524. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0812694333. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
4. ^ Burkeman, Oliver (June 30, 2007). "Weekend: EMBIGGENING THE SMALLEST MAN: There are few places on
the planet where the influence of five bright yellow, boggle-eyed residents of Springfield has yet to be felt, and there
will be fewer still with the long-awaited arrival of the first Simpsons movie". The Guardian (Guardian Newspapers
Limited): pp. Page 22.
5. ^ a b Staff (March 12, 2001). "The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer, Review"
(http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0812694333) . Publishers Weekly (Cahners Business
Information, Inc.) 248 (11): Page 72. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0812694333. Retrieved

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The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 3/7/11 12:41 AM

2007-11-28.
6. ^ Justin, Neal (May 20, 2007). "Homer's odyssey; Can an 18-year-old sitcom still pack enough punch to be
successful on the big screen? Doh!". Star Tribune: pp. Page 01F.
7. ^ Logerfo, Laura (October 26, 2001). "Author mixes Simpsons, Brecht"
(http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2001/10/26/Arts/Author.Mixes.Simpsons.Brecht-
1406674.shtml?sourcedomain=www.michigandaily.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com) . The Michigan Daily
(University of Michigan).
http://media.www.michigandaily.com/media/storage/paper851/news/2001/10/26/Arts/Author.Mixes.Simpsons.Brecht-
1406674.shtml?sourcedomain=www.michigandaily.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com. Retrieved 2007-11-
28.
8. ^ Staff (December 17, 2001). "'Simpsons' Philosophy Prof Turns 'Toon Raider". New York Post: pp. Page 09.
9. ^ Staff (December 15, 2001). "D'oh! University offers 'Simpsons' studies"
(http://www.snpp.com/other/articles/simpsonsstudies.html) . Associated Press.
http://www.snpp.com/other/articles/simpsonsstudies.html. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
10. ^ Burkeman, Oliver (May 1, 2002). "Homer's last stand"
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2002/may/01/broadcasting.comment) . The Guardian (Guardian News and Media
Limited). http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2002/may/01/broadcasting.comment. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
11. ^ Staff (September 17, 2001). "Books ponder the world according to Homer and Jerry". St. Petersburg Times:
pp. Page 7D.
12. ^ "Bart joins Homer on philosophy course". The News Letter: pp. Page 3. December 18, 2001.
13. ^ McManis, Sam (March 16, 2003). "Homer's odyssey: Berkeley course uses 'The Simpsons' to discuss philosophy"
(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/03/16/LV242838.DTL) . San Francisco Chronicle (Hearst
Newspapers). http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/03/16/LV242838.DTL. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
14. ^ Jennifer Case, "Spring could bring student-taught classes" (http://dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/2004/jan/21/spring-
could-bring-student-tau/) , Daily Bruin, 21 January 2004, accessed 22 October 2008.
15. ^ Steve Carroll, "You ain't nothin' but an existential hound dog"
(http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/03/1093939129141.html) , The Age, 4 September 2004, accessed May 31,
2008.
16. ^ Brian Ott, Flow, Vol. 3 No. 3, 7 October 2005, accessed June 1, 2008.[1] (http://flowtv.org/?p=270)
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Categories: The Simpsons publications | 2001 books | Philosophy books | Philosophy and culture

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