South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today

By Robert Arp

If you think Saddam and Satan make a kinky couple, wait till you get a load of South Park and Philosophy. Get your Big Wheels ready, because we’re going for a ride, as 22 philosophers take us down the road to understanding the big-picture issues in this small mountain town.

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• A smart and candid look at one of television’s most subversive and controversial shows, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year
  
• Draws close parallels between the irreverent nature of South Park and the inquiring and skeptical approach of philosophy
  
• Addresses the perennial questions of the show, and the contemporary social and political issues that inspire each episode
  
• Uses familiar characters and episodes to illustrate topics such as moral relativism, freedom of expression, gay marriage, blasphemy, democracy, feminism, animal ethics, existential questions and much more
  
• makes you laugh out loud

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Feb 4, 2009
• ISBN: 9781405181532

Book preview

Reviews for South Park and Philosophy

[gridcube-504137 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Well, this book felt like a teaching class of basic philosophy, which, in retrospective, was to be expected. Theres plenty of chapters focusing on several topics that are touched by southpark, or that southpark touches, some chapters use an episode to kickstart a conversation on a topic, but dont really go back to have any connection to southpark itself, just explaining something about philosophy that would help you understand the background of other chapters, theres chapters on feminism, vegetarianism, music, logic, death, lies, humor, and profanity. All in all it was a very fun book to read, I feel some chapters could be used on college to start a class on some basic topic and build from there.

[zetetic23 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

i knew south park had some philosophy in it but not this much. a very entertaining read for fans of the show and philosophy.

[heina_54 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a well-done, thorough, researched, intelligent, and sometimes uproarously-hilarious work on a topic that has been a long time coming: philosophy through the lens of South Park. It manages to use the show to address such philosophical issues as the problem of evil and of existence, as well as including some fascinating treatments of certain South Park characters. This book inspired my upcoming class on censorship and South Park and so has proven itself as both entertaining and enjoyable as well as an invaluable resource.

[heinous6eli · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a well-done, thorough, researched, intelligent, and sometimes uproarously-hilarious work on a topic that has been a long time coming: philosophy through the lens of South Park. It manages to use the show to address such philosophical issues as the problem of evil and of existence, as well as including some fascinating treatments of certain South Park characters. This book inspired my upcoming class on censorship and South Park and so has proven itself as both entertaining and enjoyable as well as an invaluable resource.