Ultimate South Park and Philosophy

Robert Arp is an analyst working with the U.S. Government. He has done data modeling work as an ontologist, and has taught philosophy courses at colleges and universities, too. His interests include philosophy of biology, ontology in the information science sense, and philosophy and pop culture.Kevin S. Decker teaches philosophy at Eastern Washington University, where he is also an Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Letters and Education. His research interests are American pragmatism, Continental philosophy, ethics, philosophy and pop culture, and social theory. William Irwin is Professor of Philosophy at King’s College. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles including Superman and Philosophy, Black Sabbath and Philosophy, and Spider-Man and Philosophy.

• Introduction: “Well, I’m Afraid It’s About to Happen Again” 1Robert Arp and Kevin S. DeckerPart I Doing Philosophical Things with South Park 5 1 Flatulence and Philosophy: A Lot of Hot Air, or the Corruption of Youth? 7Willie Young2 You Know, I Learned Something Today: Stan Marsh and the Ethics of Belief 19Henry Jacoby3 “Imaginationland,” Terrorism, and the Difference Between Real and Imaginary 29Christopher C. Kirby4 Dude, Listen to Reason! Logic Lessons Inside and Outside South Park 41Robert ArpPart II South Park and … Religion 535 Science, Religion, South Park, and God 55David Kyle Johnson6 “Your Magic Is No Match for Our Powers Combined!”—Religious Pluralism and the Search for Truth 71Jeffrey Dueck7 Cartmanland and the Problem of Evil 83David Kyle JohnsonPart III South Park versus … Religion 958 “Respect My Religiositah!”—South Park and Blasphemy 97David Koepsell9 Mary’s Menses and Morality: Blasphemy in South Park 108Kevin J. Murtagh10 South Park, The Book of Mormon, and How Religious Fundamentalists Always Find a Way to Be Naive and Arrogant at the Same Time 119Roberto Sirvent and Neil BakerPart IV Respecting My Authoritah! in South Park 13111 Juvenile Hijinks With Serious Subtext: Dissent and Democracy in South Park 133David Valleau Curtis and Gerald J. Erion12 Of Marx and Mantequilla: Labor and Immigration in “The Last of the Meheecans” 143Jeffrey Ewing13 “Vote or Die, Bitch”—Does Every Vote Count in a Two-Party System? 153John Scott Gray14 Socioeconomic Darwinism from a South Park Perspective 164Dale JacquettePart V Liber-arianism in South Park 17515 Cartman Shrugged: South Park and Libertarian Philosophy 177Paul A. Cantor16 Sitting Downtown at Kentucky Fried Chicken: One Toke Over the Line 194Kevin S. Decker17 Cat Urine, Medicinal Fried Chicken, and Smoking: South Park’s Anti-Paternalistic Libertarianism 208Shane D. CourtlandPart VI There’s a Time and a Place for Everything, Children 22118 You (Still) Can’t Get Married, You’re Faggots: Mrs. Garrison and the Gay Marriage Debate 223Jacob M. Held19 Cute and Cuddly Animals versus Yummy Animals 236Cynthia Jones20 Aesthetic Value, Ethos, and Phil Collins: The Power of Music in South Park 247Per F. BromanContributors 260Index 265