The most popular musical group of all time, the Beatles also brought serious thought to the bubble gum-scented world of pop and rock music, with adventurous, profound, and sometimes mysterious lyrics that veered from the deliberate absurdity of "I Am the Walrus" to the rosy Rousseau-like fantasy of "When I'm 64" to the darkly existential/nihilist visions of "Eleanor Rigby" and "A Day in the Life." In this lively new book, 20 Beatles-loving philosophers offer fresh insight into the lives and words of the Fab Four. Among the topics investigated are the groups' critique of consumer culture; John...

"Bond. James Bond." Since Sean Connery first uttered that iconic phrase in Dr. No, more than one quarter of the world's population has seen a 007 film. Witty and urbane, Bond seduces and kills with equal ease -- often, it seems, with equal enthusiasm. This enthusiasm, coupled with his freedom to do what is forbidden to everyone else, evokes fascinating philosophical questions. Here, 15 witty, thought-provoking essays discuss hidden issues in Bond's world, from his carnal pleasures to his license to kill. Among the lively topics explored are Bond's relation to existentialism, including...

Popular interest in bullshit -- and its near relative, truthiness -- is at an all-time high, but the subject has a rich philosophical history, with Hobbes, Locke, Hume, and Kant all weighing in on the matter. Here, contemporary philosophers reflect on bullshit from epistemological, ethical, metaphysical, historical, and political points of view. Tackling questions including what is bullshit, what does it do, is it a passing fad, and can it ever be eliminated, the book is a guide and resource for the many who find bullshit worth pondering.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone's long-running Comedy Central hit cartoon South Park has been equally cheered and reviled for its edgy humor, poited satire of current events and celebrities, and all-around obnoxiousness. But is there more to Kyle, the lonely Jew, Timmy and the Crips, Cartman's bitchiness, Chef's inappropriate advice, and Kenny's continued violent deaths than meets the eye? This collection of essays affirms that possibility. Individual chapters take a sometimes witty, often provocative look at "Is South Park a Libertarian Manifesto?," "That's So Gay ," and "Why Is Cartman...

The shower scene in Psycho; Cary Grant running for his life through a cornfield; "innocent" birds lined up on a fence waiting, watching -- these seminal cinematic moments are as real to moviegoers as their own lives. But what makes them so? What deeper forces are at work in Hitchcock's films that so captivate his fans? This collection of articles in the series that's explored such pop-culture phenomena as Seinfeld and The Simpsons examines those forces with fresh eyes. These essays demonstrate a fascinating range of topics: Sabotage's lessons about the morality of...

The Grateful Dead and Philosophy contains essays from 20 professional philosophers whose love of the Dead's music and scene have led them to reflect on different philosophical questions that have arisen from the enigma that is the Grateful Dead. Coming at the Dead from a variety of perspectives, ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, this book considers how the group fits into the broader trends of American thought running through pragmatism and the Beat poets. There's a pertinent analysis of how the parking lot scene with its tie-dyed t-shirt and veggie burrito vendors was both a...

The films of Quentin Tarantino are ripe for philosophical speculation, raising compelling questions about justice and ethics, violence and aggression, the nature of causality, and the flow of time. In this witty collection of articles, no subject is too taboo for the writers to tackle. From an aesthetic meditation on the use of spraying blood in Kill Bill to the conundrum of translation and reference in Vincent and Jules' discussion about French Big Macs in Pulp Fiction, Tarantino and Philosophy shies away from nothing. Is The Bride a heroic figure, even though she's...

Pink Floyd's sound and light shows in the 1960s defined psychedelia, but their later recordings combined rock, orchestral music, literature, and philosophy. Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall ignored pop music's usual strictures to focus on themes of madness, despair, brutality, and alienation. Here, 16 scholars set delve into the heart of Pink Floyd by examining ideas, concepts, and problems usually encountered not in a rock band's lyrics but in the pages of Heidegger, Foucault, and Sartre. These include the meaning of existence, the individual's place in society, the...

Interest in the Man in Black has grown since his death in 2003, with increased record sales, cover videos by groups like Nine Inch Nails, and the 2006 biopic Walk the Line cementing his fame. This book honors Cash by examining the many philosophical issues and concepts within his music. From the gender confusion of "A Boy Named Sue" to the ethics of "shooting a man just to watch him die," philosophers who are fans of Johnny Cash explore the meaning and continuing importance of his work and legacy.

Known as the working man's poet, the Boardwalk prophet, or simply, the Boss. If love is a banquet at which we feed, Bruce Springsteen has provided much food for thought. In this collection of metaphysical probes, a gang of E-street philosophers will undress Bruce's deeper mysteries like irresistible Jersey girls. Can Springsteen settle the nature-nurture debate through his song Born to Run? What do the famous philosopher Ricuoer and Springsteen have in common in their depiction of time? These die-hard Springsteen fans, who just happen to be philosophers, compile an entertaining handbook to...