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University offers 'Simpsons' as Philosophy Class
joestump98 writes "I ran accross a story at CNN that says a local Michigan college, Siena Heights, is offering a philosophy class on our favorite cartoon - The Simpsons. The Catholic school says the class is about religion and philosphy in popular culture." And I thought Rocks for Jocks was a hilarious concept in wasting a college education. That said, I'd take that class. Have to make sure to watch my homework tonight.
What's new about this is that an entire course is being dedicated to them.
"Bloody marvelous."
The Simpsons, albeit a cartoon show, often offers social commentary and true philosophical views. A book that I recently read is The Simpsons and Philosophy, which goes into great detail about how different philosophers would interpret the characters of OFF (Our Favorite Family--abbreviation used a lot in alt.tv.simpsons).
For example, maybe Maggie is just being silent to be silent, or maybe that silence could be interpreted as a social protest. Sartre would certainly think so, anyway.
My point is simply that this show goes far beyond what it appears to be on the surface. Plain & Simple, anything that stimulates your mind and provokes positive thoughtstreams is not waste; to call it that shows how much you truly still have to learn.
This isn't that amazing, really; Simpsons philosophy classes have been out there forever. I think I recall hearing about one at Stanford a few years back (and on here, no less!). I'm surprised that this made Slashdot, and even more susprised at some of the reactions that people are having. The Simpsons are an excellent way to teach philosophy; in fact, in my class this semester, quite a few people actually used the Simpsons as topics for the 15-page term paper at the end of the year (things like analysis of the Bart Loses His Soul episode, which really do get philosophical if you bring in some outside sources and philosophers).
If anyone's interested, there's even a book, called The Simpsons and Philosophy - the D'oh! of Homer.
-- K
one of the universities of california (possibly bezerkeley) offered one of these before. and it's really a serious class, about the social implications/messages/etc. of the simpsons. I mean so much of it _is_ soecial commentary. I remember the UC class had students write their own episodes with a particular political theme in mind. very good stuff.
This actually has a great deal of merit.
Think about it. The Simpsons is arguably one of the most popular shows of all time. Not only is it one of the longest-running shows currently on television, its been one of the most consistently popular shows of all time, across ethnic lines. All during a period of great competition from other networks: other cartoon series have tried and failed to duplicate The Simpson's popularity (King of the Hill and The Family Guy readily spring to mind as competition on the same network.)
Now, remember how the Simpsons developed? They were originally an animated short on The Tracey Ullman Show, produced by a small group of people, not the standard fare of corporate media development. So not only do we have this incredible, remarkable program, but the program developed from a different structure then typical programming.
Now, all of these traits are remarkable individually, but when combined, the show is truly unique and remarkable.
There might be a meaning hidden in those facts that would be worth study from a marketing, sociological, and philosophical point of view.
Here's another story on it from ABCNews.com
--You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
The Simpsons, albeit a cartoon show
:)
I think that this fragment of a quote pretty much sums up the entire point of the class. There always have been, and still are, some philosophers who write philosophical tomes which are quite clearly philosophy. But philosophy presented in the form of entertainment is no less worthy of consideration.
Consider, for example, "Candide" (by Voltaire) or "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence". While they both take the form of a story, each is clearly a philosophical text as well. Likewise texts such as "Gulliver's Travels" and "Catch-22", while more focused on story, also contain plenty of social criticism, which is a form of philosophy.
Considering that "The Simpsons" is far more thoughtful than most of the rest of popular culture, I'm not at all surprised that someone decided to teach a class in it. Whether or not it lasts as part of the philosophical canon after it's off the air remains to be seen. It may not be good enough or philosophical enough to last, but I'm not surprised that it's being recognized in its time.
On a related note, Alan Moore (of "Watchmen" and "From Hell" fame, among other things) taught a class on comic books as literature at The University of California at Berkeley a few years back, and "Watchmen" is on the reading list for one Film/Rhetoric/English class there. This is another example of a "cartoon" that's being taken seriously. It has been known to happen
Many people do a lot of writing about the simps, so why not.
Also, check out
From Davey & Goliath to Homer and Ned. I'll but you didn't expect to find it there.
Actually, IIRC she is known to the family as quite a chatterbox in that ep. She doesn't speak because someone (Marge?) interrupts her, saying that she is always talking. They make a point of NOT showing her talking. I love the idea of her representing some kind of protest, but it seems more likely just a longplaying gag.
Incidentally, she also talks in the episode where the kids are adopted by the Flanderses, and I _think_ there's a third as well, though I can't put my finger on it at the moment.
"All these years believing you're the signified monkey, only to find out you're just a big hunk of nobody cares."
And before everyone gets indignant about this, notice that every one of the classes is numbered in the 80s (e.g. Theater Arts 80N). 80-series classes are optional, only occasionally taught, and generally deal with subject matter that wouldn't be appropriate in a regular class.
This site, snpp.com, is a Simpsons archive full of guides, papers, and all kinds of resources for research if anyone really wants to look into studying this further. The quality and content are solid. I highly recommend it.