Family Guy and Philosophy

by J. Jeremy Wisnewski (Editor)

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781405163163
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	08/27/2007
Series:	Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series , #9
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.54(d)

About the Author

J. Jeremy Wisnewski is Assistant Professor at Hartwick College. He is the author of Wittgenstein and Ethical Inquiry: A Defense of Ethics as Clarification (2007) and The Politics of Agency: Toward a Pragmatic Approach to Philosophical Anthropology (2008). He is also the editor of The Office and Philosophy (Blackwell, 2008).

Table of Contents

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?

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“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!”
Dave Baggett, editor of Harry Potter and Philosophy and Hitchcock and Philosophy

“This book doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever, which obviously means it’s brilliant.”
Joey Green, author of The Bathroom Professor: Philosophy on the Go

"Author cooks up a big bowl of philosophy stew while exposing the Family Guy for what it is; a beacon of post-modernism."
TLChicken.com

“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.” Associated Content

Editorial Reviews

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!”
Dave Baggett, editor of Harry Potter and Philosophy and Hitchcock and Philosophy

“This book doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever, which obviously means it’s brilliant.”
Joey Green, author of The Bathroom Professor: Philosophy on the Go

"Author cooks up a big bowl of philosophy stew while exposing the Family Guy for what it is; a beacon of post-modernism."
TLChicken.com

“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.” Associated Content

From the Publisher