George A. Reisch

Brandon W. Forbes

Evaluates the deeper significance of the popular and politically charged band, discussing their reflection of leading issues while considering how their music has drawn on the philosophical and existential perspectives of master thinkers. Original.

Fitter Happier More Deductive

Radiohead and Philosophy

Gary L. Hardcastle

"Sixteen essays offer discussions, interpretations, and criticisms related to Harry G. Frankfurt's essay "On Bullshit" and other philosophical work on bullshit. Topics addressed include: the definition of bullshit; the ethics and epistemology of bullshit;

Guaranteed to Get Perfect Results Every Time

Bullshit and Philosophy

William Irwin

Fifteen experts in the fields of mythology, Buddhism, feminism, logic, ethics, and philosophy evaluate the ways in which the British comedy troupe's films and sketches are representative of universal themes and wisdom, in a volume that cites the philosophical concepts reflected by such popular skits as the Argument Clinic and the Dead Parrot routine. Original.

Nudge Nudge, Think Think!

Monty Python and Philosophy

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.

Soğuk Savaş Bilim Felsefesini Nasıl Dönüştürdü? Mantığın Buzlu Yokuşlarına Bu kitap bilim felsefesinin Soğuk Savaş sırasında Birleşik Devletler’deki gelişiminin ilk derinlemesine incelemesidir. Mantıksal Görgücülüğün ve Marxist mantıksal görgücü Otto Neurath tarafından yönetilen Bilimin Birliği deviminin 1930’larda bu projeler Birleşik Devletler’e göç ettiği sıralardaki politik karakterini ve 1950’lerde entellektüel, kültürel ve politik güçlerin birleşik etkileri sonucunda yer alan depolitizasyonlarını inceler. Mantıksal görgücülük ve Viyana Çevresi üzerine araştırmacılar sık sık bunları politik olmaktan uzak salt entellektüel projeler olarak ele alırlar. Gerçekte, pozitivistler hem kendi ülkelerinde hem de daha sonra sığındıkları ABD’de politik olarak etkin idiler. 1929 Manifesto’ larında belirttikleri gibi tümü de sosyalist olan Avusturya ve Almanya pozitivistlerinin programları yalnızca anlamsız metafizik olarak gördükleri klasik felsefeyi devirmek değildi. Avrupa’yı baştan sona yeniden kurmayı, Avrupa eğitiminin hedeflerini ve ders programını yeniden düzenlemeyi hedefliyor, bunun için ikonografi, semiotik ve simgesel mantık aygıtları geliştiriyor, ve başarının önkoşulu olarak felsefe tarihinin reddedilmesi gerektiğine inanıyorlardı. Tasarladıkları “bütünsel etik yeniden-yapılanma” etiğin kendisinin yalancı-bilim sayılması koşuluna bağlıydı. Bilime ilgilerini görelilik, olasılık, uylaşımcılık, simgecilik ve semitoik gibi terimlerde tanımlarken ve daha iyi bir toplumun kurulması için bilimleri ve dolayısıyla bilimcileri bir Birlik altına getirmenin zorunluğunu vurgularken, mantık dedikleri şeyde “ahlak” olmadığnı, bir tür “hoşgörü ilkesi”nin geçerli olduğunu ileri sürdüler. Neurath’tan Carnap’a, Wittgenstein’a, Sovyetler Birliği için duygudaşlıkları öylesine güçlü idi ki, pozitivist olduklarını unuttular ve sık sık tarihsel materyalistler olarak davrandılar. Sonuçta politik ilgileri yalnızca entellektüeller arasında değil, ama J. Edgar Hoover denetimindeki FBI gibi kurumlar tarafından bile dikkatle izlenir oldu. Etik ve estetik ile ilgileri bütünüyle olumsuzdu ve pozitivist ölçütler altında bu alanların bilişsel olmadığını ve öyleyse anlamsız olduğunu düşünüyorlardı. Bu ilgisizlik salt sözel değildi ve etiğin anlamsız metafizik olduğunu aşağı yukarı hep birlikte RAND Corporation’a katılarak tanıtladılar. Bu düzeye dek, Viyana Çevresi pozitivizminin dönüşümünün ve depolitize olmasının nedenleri McCarthysmin yarattığı cadı avı ikliminde olmaktan çok çevrenin etik göreciliğinde ve grup tinine özünlü pragmatizminde yatar. Kapsamlı arşiv araştırması üzerine dayanan kitap Soğuk Savaş sırasındaki Amerikan entellektüel tarihinin önemli bir bölümünü ele alır. Köklerini Soğuk Savaş sırasındaki anti-komünizmden alan entellektüel ve politik güçlerin beklenmedik bir bileşiminin nasıl hem üniversitelerin eğitim programlarını hem de giderek önde gelen felsefecilerin üstlendikleri araştırmayı bile şekillendirdiğini ortaya koyar. Kitap bilim felsefecileri ve tarihçileri, entellektüel tarihçiler ve Soğuk Savaş araştırmacıları için ilgi çekici olduğunu gösterecektir.

Mantığın Buzlu Yokuşlarına

Soğuk Savaş Bilim Felsefesini Nasıl Dönüştürdü?

Since their breakthrough hit "Creep" in 1993, Radiohead has continued to make waves throughout popular and political culture with its views about the Bush presidency (its 2003 album was titled Hail to the Thief), its anti-corporatism, its pioneering efforts to produce ecologically sound road tours, and, most of all, its decision in 2007 to sell its latest album, In Rainbows, online with a controversial "pay-what-you-want" price. Radiohead and Philosophy offers fresh ways to appreciate the lyrics, music, and conceptual ground of this highly innovative band. The chapters in this book explain how Radiohead’s music connects directly to the philosophical phenomenology of thinkers like Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Martin Heidegger, the existentialism of Albert Camus and Jean Paul Sartre, and the philosophical politics of Karl Marx, Jean Baudrillard, and Noam Chomsky. Fans and critics know that Radiohead is "the only band that matters" on the scene today — Radiohead and Philosophy shows why.

"Essays critically examine philosophical concepts and problems in the music and lyrics of the band Pink Floyd"--Provided by publisher.

Careful with that Axiom, Eugene!

Pink Floyd and Philosophy

With their early experiments in psychedelic rock music in the 1960s, and their epic recordings of the 1970s and '80s, Pink Floyd became one of the most influential and recognizable rock bands in history. As "The Pink Floyd Sound," the band created sound and light shows that defined psychedelia in England and inspired similar movements in the Jefferson Airplane's San Francisco and Andy Warhol's New York City. The band's subsequent recordings forged rock music's connections to orchestral music, literature, and philosophy. "Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wall" ignored pop music's ordinary topics to focus on themes such as madness, existential despair, brutality, alienation, and socially induced psychosis. They also became some of the best-selling recordings of all time. In this collection of essays, sixteen scholars expert in various branches of philosophy set the controls for the heart of the sun to critically examine the themes, concepts, and problems—usually encountered in the pages of Heidegger, Foucault, Sartre, or Orwell—that animate and inspire Pink Floyd's music. These include the meaning of existence, the individual's place in society, the interactions of knowledge and power in education, the contradictions of art and commerce, and the blurry line—the tragic line, in the case of Floyd early member Syd Barrett (died in 2006)—between genius and madness. Having dominated pop music for nearly four decades, Pink Floyd's dynamic and controversial history additionally opens the way for these authors to explore controversies about intellectual property, the nature of authorship, and whether wholes—especially in the case of rock bands—are more than the sums of their parts.

Richard Greene

Rachel Robison

What explains the huge popular following for Dexter, currently the most-watched show on cable, which sympathetically depicts a serial killer driven by a cruel compulsion to brutally slay one victim after another? Although Dexter Morgan kills only killers, he is not a vigilante animated by a sense of justice but a charming psychopath animated by a lust to kill, ritualistically and bloodily. However his gory appetite is controlled by “Harry’s Code,” which limits his victims to those who have gotten away with murder, and his job as a blood spatter expert for the Miami police department gives him the inside track on just who those legitimate targets may be. In Dexter and Philosophy, an elite team of philosophers don their rubber gloves and put Dexter’s deeds under the microscope. Since Dexter is driven to ritual murder by his “Dark Passenger,” can he be blamed for killing, especially as he only murders other murderers? Does Dexter fit the profile of the familiar fictional type of the superhero? What part does luck play in making Dexter who he is? How and why are horror and disgust turned into aesthetic pleasure for the TV viewer? How essential is Dexter’s emotional coldness to his lust for slicing people up? Are Dexter’s lies and deceptions any worse than the lies and deceptions of the non-criminals around him? Why does Dexter long to be a normal human being and why can’t he accomplish this apparently simple goal?

Mind over Spatter

Dexter and Philosophy

Rachel Robison-Greene

In Dexter and Philosophy, an elite team of philosophers don their rubber gloves and put Dexters deeds under the microscope.

Mind Over Spatter

From the 1970s cult TV show, Monty Python’s Flying Circus, to the current hit musical Spamalot, the Monty Python comedy troupe has been at the center of popular culture and entertainment. The Pythons John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam are increasingly recognized and honored for their creativity and enduring influence in the worlds of comedy and film. Monty Python and Philosophy extends that recognition into the world of philosophy. Fifteen experts in topics like mythology, Buddhism, feminism, logic, ethics, and the philosophy of science bring their expertise to bear on Python movies such as Monty Python’s Life of Brian and Flying Circus mainstays such as the Argument Clinic, the Dead Parrot Sketch, and, of course, the Bruces, the Pythons’ demented, song-filled vision of an Australian philosophy department. Monty Python and Philosophy follows the same hit format as the other titles in this popular series and explains all the philosophical concepts discussed in laymen’s terms.

The first in-depth study of the development of philosophy of science during the Cold War.

To the Icy Slopes of Logic

How the Cold War Transformed Philosophy of Science

Uncovers long-ignored political themes—ideology, propaganda, mind-control, and Orwellian history—at work within the pages of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The Politics of Paradigms shows that America’s most famous and influential book about science, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions of 1962, was inspired and shaped by Thomas Kuhn’s political interests, his relationship with the influential cold warrior James Bryant Conant, and America’s McCarthy-era struggle to resist and defeat totalitarian ideology. Through detailed archival research, Reisch shows how Kuhn’s well-known theories of paradigms, crises, and scientific revolutions emerged from within urgent political worries—on campus and in the public sphere—about the invisible, unconscious powers of ideology, language, and history to shape the human mind and its experience of the world. George A. Reisch is managing editor of The Monist and series editor for Open Court Publishing Company’s series Popular Culture and Philosophy.

Thomas S. Kuhn, James B. Conant, and the Cold War “Struggle for Men’s Minds”

The Politics of Paradigms

Uncovers long-ignored political themes—ideology, propaganda, mind control, and Orwellian history—at work within the pages of The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. The Politics of Paradigms shows that America’s most famous and influential book about science, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions of 1962, was inspired and shaped by Thomas Kuhn’s political interests, his relationship with the influential cold warrior James Bryant Conant, and America’s McCarthy-era struggle to resist and defeat totalitarian ideology. Through detailed archival research, Reisch shows how Kuhn’s well-known theories of paradigms, crises, and scientific revolutions emerged from within urgent political worries—on campus and in the public sphere—about the invisible, unconscious powers of ideology, language, and history to shape the human mind and its experience of the world. “This book raises and explores important questions about the ideological background of some of the most important work in the philosophy of science in the twentieth century. It challenges conventional wisdom about the ideological neutrality of that work.” — Peter S. Fosl, editor of The Big Lebowski and Philosophy: Keeping Your Mind Limber with Abiding Wisdom

George A. Reisch

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