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SPA_A01.qxd 31/10/2006 10:57 Page i South Park and Philosophy SPA_A01.qxd 31/10/2006 10:57 Page ii The Blackwell Philosophy and PopCulture Series Series editor William Irwin A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, and a healthy help- ing of popular culture clears the cobwebs from Kant. Philosophy has had a public relations problem for a few centuries now. This series aims to change that, showing that philosophy is relevant to your life – and not just for answering the big questions like “To be or not to be?” but for answering the little questions: “To watch or not to watch South Park?” Thinking deeply about TV, movies, and music doesn’t make you a “dummy” or a “complete idiot.” In fact it might make you a philosopher, someone who believes the unexamined life is not worth living and the unexamined cartoon is not worth watching. South Park and Philosophy Edited by Robert Arp Metallica and Philosophy Edited by William Irwin Family Guy and Philosophy Edited by Jeremy Wisnewski The Daily Show and Philosophy Edited by Jason Holt Lost and Philosophy Edited by Sharon Kaye 24 and Philosophy Edited by Richard Davis, Jennifer Hart Weed, and Ronald Weed The Office and Philosophy Edited by Jeremy Wisnewski SPA_A01.qxd 31/10/2006 10:57 Page iii South Park and Philosophy You Know, I Learned Something Today Edited by Robert Arp SPA_A01.qxd 31/10/2006 17:10 Page iv © 2007 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd blackwell publishing 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Robert Arp to be identified as the Author of the Editorial Material in this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2007 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd 1 2007 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data South Park and philosophy : you know, I learned something today / edited by Robert Arp. p. cm. — (The Blackwell philosophy and PopCulture series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978–1–4051–6160–2 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1–4051–6160–4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. South Park (Television program) I. Arp, Robert. PN1992.77.S665S68 2006 791.45′72—dc22 2006032843 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10.5/13pt Sabon by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong Printed and bound in [Country of Printing] by [Name and Address of Printer] The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free practices. Furthermore, the publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used have met acceptable environmental accreditation standards. For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: www.blackwellpublishing.com SPA_A01.qxd 31/10/2006 10:57 Page v Contents The Super Best Contributors viii Sucking Balls and Fucking Off: An Introduction to The BothersomeSouth Park and Philosophy 1 Robert Arp Part One Taking South ParkSeriously...M’Kay 3 1 Flatulence and Philosophy: A Lot of Hot Air, or the Corruption of Youth? 5 William W. Young III 2 Is It Okay to Laugh at South Park? 17 Catherine Yu 3 Blasphemous Humor in South Park 29 Kevin J. Murtagh 4 The Chewbacca Defense: A South ParkLogic Lesson 40 Robert Arp Part Two The Fab Four 55 5 You Know, I Learned Something Today: Stan Marsh and the Ethics of Belief 57 Henry Jacoby 6 Respect My Authorita! Is Cartman “The Law,” and Even If He Is, Why Should We Obey Him? 66 Mark D. White v SPA_A01.qxd 31/10/2006 10:57 Page vi Contents 7 Oh My God! They Killed Kenny...Again: Kenny and Existentialism 77 Karin Fry 8 The Philosophical Passion of the Jew: Kyle the Philosopher 87 William J. Devlin Part Three The Republic of South Park 95 9 The Invisible Gnomes and the Invisible Hand: South Parkand Libertarian Philosophy 97 Paul A. Cantor 10 South Parkand the Open Society: Defending Democracy Through Satire 112 David Valleau Curtis and Gerald J. Erion 11 “Vote or Die, Bitch” – The Myth that Every Vote Counts and the Pitfalls of a Two-Party System 121 John Scott Gray Part Four Ethics: Dude...Gay Muslims Don’t Eat Veal 129 12 They Satirized My Prophet...Those Bastards! South Parkand Blasphemy 131 David R. Koepsell 13 You Can’t Get Married, You’re Faggots: Mrs. Garrison and the Gay Marriage Debate 141 Jacob M. Held 14 Just Don’t Kill Baby Cows 154 Cynthia McWilliams 15 Four-Assed Monkeys: Genetics and Gen-Ethics in Small-Town Colorado 163 Scott Calef Part Five Who the Fuck Are You? Whores, Robots, and Bodies 175 16 Raisins, Whores, and Boys: Gender and Sexuality in South Park 177 Ellen Miller vi SPA_A01.qxd 31/10/2006 10:57 Page vii Contents 17 AWESOM-O and the Possibility and Implications of Artificial Intelligence 189 Randall M. Jensen 18 Stan’s Future Self and Evil Cartman: Personal Identity in South Park 202 Shai Biderman Part Six Satan, Suffering, Super Best Friends, and Song 211 19 Cartmanland and the Problem of Evil 213 David Kyle Johnson 20 Religious Pluralism and The Super Best Friends 224 Jeffrey Dueck 21 Aesthetic Value, Ethos, and Phil Collins: The Power of Music in South Park 236 Per F. Broman 22 Satan Lord of Darkness in South ParkCosmology 250 Dale Jacquette Special Surprise Bonus! An Interview with Trey Parker and Matt Stone (not really...it’s made up) 263 Screw You Guys...I’m Going Home: Acknowledgments 267 Chef’s Salty Ball-less Index 268 vii SPA_A01.qxd 31/10/2006 10:57 Page viii The Super Best Contributors Robert Arp is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Southwest Minnesota State University, and has authored numerous articles in philosophy of mind, philosophy of biology, modern philosophy, and pop culture. His book Scenario Visualization: An Evolutionary Account of Creative Problem Solving is forthcoming. He is also working on another book, titled An Integrated Approach to the Philosophy of Mind. Besides editing this book, he is co-editing Contemporary Debates in Philosophy of Biology with Francisco Ayala (Blackwell Publishers) and The Ashgate Companion to Con- temporary Philosophy of Biology with George Terzis. He thinks philosophy is good, but drugs are bad, m’kay. Shai Bidermanis a PhD candidate in Philosophy at Boston University. His primary research interests are contemporary continental philosophy, philosophy of literature and film, existentialism, and German philosophy. His recent publications include several papers on reason- ability, revenge, and determinism, as well as writings on Kafka, Nietzsche, and Heidegger. He currently suffers from paranoia and insomnia, and is wary of the underpants gnomes. Per F. Broman is an Assistant Professor of Music Theory at Bowling Green State University. He writes about twentieth-century music and aesthetics and is the author of “Back to the Future”: Towards an Aesthetic Theory of Bengt Hambræus. Also, he has contributed to books and journals including New Music in the Nordic Countries, Woody Allen and Philosophy, Perspectives of New Music, College viii SPA_A01.qxd 31/10/2006 10:57 Page ix The Super Best Contributors Music Symposium, andJournal of Popular Music Studies. He can’t be a non-conformist if he doesn’t drink coffee. Scott Calefis Associate Professor and Chair of the philosophy depart- ment at Ohio Wesleyan University. In addition to authoring articles on ancient philosophy, applied ethics, political philosophy, meta- physics, and the philosophy of religion, he has contributed to The Beatles and Philosophy, Hitchcock and Philosophy and Metallica and Philosophy. He met his wife at Raisins and knows what he wants to ask God in the year 4000. Paul A. Cantor is Clifton Waller Barrett Professor of English at the University of Virginia. His award-winning essay on The Simpsons, “Atomistic Politics and the Nuclear Family,” has been widely reprinted and translated into Russian, Spanish, and Australian. His book Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization was named one of the best non-fiction books of 2001 by the LA Times. Recently uncovered documents have shown, and DNA tests have confirmed, that he was switched at birth with Eric Cartman; he and his heirs are looking forward to all the residuals – and Cheesypoofs – they will now be collecting. David ValleauCurtisis a Professor of Communications at Blackburn College and has authored a number of articles on the media and society. He is particularly interested in the Internet, new media, and e-commerce. He has completed a draft of a book on communications theorists Marshall McLuhan and Walter Ong called The Priest and the Prophet and is also working on a book about e-commerce profiling with Dr. Christian Vermehren, a European Internet entre- preneur. Dr. Curtis also enjoys biking, walking his dog, Penn State sports, and being exploited by ruthless Native Americans at the Three Feathers Indian Casino near South Park, Colorado. William J. Devlin is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at Boston University, and a visiting instructor at Bridgewater State College and the University of Wyoming. His publications include papers on time travel, Friedrich Nietzsche, personal identity, and Family Guy. While his primary areas of research are philosophy of science, truth theories, Nietzsche, and existentialism, his life ambition is to join Tugger, makin’ music, singin’ songs, and fightin’ round the world. ix SPA_A01.qxd 31/10/2006 10:57 Page x The Super Best Contributors Jeffrey Dueck is a Lecturer at Buffalo State College and has written and spoken on numerous issues in American philosophy, epistemology, ethics, and religion. Every time he thinks of something clever, he finds out The Simpsonsalready did it. Gerald J. Erion is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Medaille College, where his research includes work in ethics, philosophy of mind, and the teaching of philosophy. While traveling home from a recent academic conference he fell from a burning bridge, tumbled down a rocky cliff, and was impaled on a tree branch, then attacked by a mountain lion, shot by the Super Adventure Club, and mauled by a grizzly bear. Karin Fry is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. She has published several articles in continental philosophy, aesthetics, and feminism. She hopes to have her own theme park some day so that she can ride the roller coaster all by herself. John Scott Gray is an Assistant Professor of Humanities at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Michigan. His main areas of research are political and social philosophy, philosophy of sex and gender, and applied ethics. He is the author of a number of articles, including articles related to same-sex marriage in the South African Journal of Philosophy and the Review Journal of Political Philosophy. He also does not tolerate intolerance. Jacob M. Heldis an Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the Depart- ment of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Central Arkansas. His research interests include political and social philosophy, Marx, and philosophy of law. He is co-editor of James Bond and Philosophy. He has published in several scholarly journals, including Vera Lexand the Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, and has written on topics ranging from punishment to postmodernism. Although raised Catholic, his experiences aboard the Catholic Boat have led him to be wary of priests, religion, and cruises. Henry Jacobyteaches philosophy at East Carolina University. He has published mostly in philosophy of mind. His current interests include Russell’s solution to the mind-body problem and the nature of moral perception. He would never kill somebody – not unless they pissed him off. x