The Ultimate South Park and Philosophy (41 page)

6
. See the company’s website:
www.compoundsecurity.co.uk/security-information/mosquito-devices
, accessed Feb. 26, 2013.

7
. Scott Timberg, “Halt … or I’ll play Vivaldi,”
Toronto Star
, February 20, 2005, C05.

8
. Cartman is not completely correct here: Slayer’s music is typically not categorized as “death metal,” but as another somewhat gentler ­sub-category of heavy metal, namely “thrash metal.”

9
. On the commentary track on the DVD, Stone and Parker claim that there were real attempts to find this frequency to be used in WWII as a weapon. That may or may not be true, but the topic resembles one ­episode of
Monty Python’s Flying Circus
, a series of which Parker and Stone were long-time fans, in a sketch about the world’s funniest joke. The joke was so funny that anyone who heard it laughed to death. It, too, was supposedly used as a weapon during WWII.

10
. Plato,
Republic
, book 4.

11
. The technique, referred to as retrograde, was considered the most esoteric of the contrapuntal techniques during the medieval period, as the original melody becomes completely incomprehensible. See, for example, Virginia Newes, “Writing, Reading, and Memorizing: The Transmission and Resolution of Retrograde Canons from the 14th and 15th Centuries,”
Early Music
, 18 (1990): 218–232.

12
. Plato,
The Laws of Plato
, trans. Thomas Pangle (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1988), book 2.

13
. Ibid.

14
. Plato,
Symposium
, trans. Christopher Gill (New York: Penguin Books, 2003), part 1.

15
. See the Dia Art Foundation:
www.diacenter.org/artist_web_projects
, accessed Feb. 26, 2013.

16
. Calliope presides over elegies; Cleo, the stories of heroes; Erato, love poems; Euterpe, flute playing; Melpomene, the tragedies; Polyhymnia, hymns and mime; Terpsichore, choral dancing and song; Thalia, the comedies; and Urania, astronomy.

17
. Plato,
The Laws of Plato
, book 2.

18
. As popular-music scholar Simon Frith argued: “Rock, in contrast to pop, carries intimations of sincerity, authenticity, art—noncommercial concerns. These intimations have been muffled since rock became the record industry, but it is the possibilities, the promises, that matter.” Simon Frith,
Sound Effects – Youth, Leisure and the Politics of Rock ‘n’ Roll
(Suffolk: St. Edmundsbury Press, 1983), 11.

19
. Arthur Schopenhauer,
The World as Will and Representation
, vol. I, trans. E.F.J. Payne (New York: Dover, 1966), 196.

20
. Plato,
Republic
, book 10.

21
. Schopenhauer
The World as Will and as Representation
, vol. II, 406.

Robert Arp, Ph.D
., works as an analyst for the US Army, and is the editor of
South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2006). Like Descartes and Kyle, he thinks that the “basis of all reasoning is the mind’s awareness of itself. What we think—the external objects we perceive—are all like actors that come on and off stage. But our consciousness, the stage itself, is always present to us” (“The Tooth Fairy’s Tats 2000”).
Neil Baker
recently completed his B.A. at Hope International University. A former religious fundamentalist turned skeptic, he has found it a bit difficult to continue on his original career path as a Christian minister. He does, however, hope to pursue his interest in the field of interreligious dialogue through graduate study, and ­perhaps even achieve his ultimate dream of meeting the Super Best Friends!
Per F. Broman, Ph.D
., is Associate Professor of Music Theory and Associate Dean at the College of Musical Arts 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
(Gothenburg University, 1999), and has contributed to books and journals including
New Music in the Nordic Countries
(Pendragon Press, 2002),
Woody Allen and Philosophy
,
Music, Sound and Filmmakers: Sonic Style in Cinema
(Routledge, 2012),
Perspectives of New Music
,
College Music Symposium
, and
Journal of Popular Music Studies
. He can’t be a non-conformist if he doesn’t drink coffee.
Paul A. Cantor, Ph.D
., is Clifton Waller Barrett Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of Virginia. He is the author of
Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization
and
The Invisible Hand in Popular Culture: Liberty vs. Authority in American Film and TV
. Under severe questioning, he admitted that he bought his
South Park
essay “real cheap” at the Semiotics section of his local Wal-Mart.
Shane D. Courtland, Ph.D
., is an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. His publications have appeared in
Pacific Philosophical Quarterly
,
Reason Papers
,
Hobbes Studies
,
Utilitas
,
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
and the
Journal of Environmental Philosophy
. During his free time he engages in public activism aimed at informing the public about the illusive (and dangerous) Manbearpig.
David Valleau Curtis, Ph.D., B.C.B.A.-D., L.B.A
., works as a behavior analyst for the Columbus Organization in Saint Louis, Missouri and holds the position of Senior Consultant helping special needs ­individuals develop skills to prevent problem behaviors. He has deemed Cartman a lost cause.
Kevin S. Decker, Ph.D
., is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Philosophy Program at Eastern Washington University near Spokane, Washington. He’s the co-editor of
Star Wars and Philosophy
,
Star Trek and Philosophy
,
Terminator and Philosophy
, and editor of the upcoming Wiley-Blackwell book
Ender’s Game and Philosophy
. Currently, he’s writing
Who is Who? The Philosophy of
Doctor Who for I.B. Tauris Publishers. And like Luke Skywalker, Santa Claus, Bugs Bunny, and Superman, he’s affected your life in a “more realer” way than most of the real people you know.
Jeffrey Dueck, Ph.D
., is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Nyack College. While focusing on philosophical issues in ethics, aesthetics, and the philosophy of religion, he also enjoys writing and performing music and playing with his kids. If he could time-travel into the future, he would forgo the search for the latest video game console and instead embrace the fame and glory stemming from the
South Park
book he once contributed to.
Gerald J. Erion, Ph.D
., is Associate 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.
Jeffrey Ewing
is a graduate student in sociology at the University of Oregon. In his spare time, he studies Marx, gender, alternative economic systems, and is trying to avoid becoming one of those ­people who you can never remember whether he was there or not.
John Scott Gray, Ph.D
., is Associate 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
. John also is the co-author of a textbook titled
Introduction to Popular Culture: Theories, Applications and Global Perspectives
. He also does not ­tolerate intolerance.
Jacob M. Held, Ph.D
., is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Central Arkansas. He is the editor of
Dr. Seuss and Philosophy: Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!
(Rowman and Littlefield 2011) as well as a contributor to other volumes in Blackwell’s Philosophy and Pop Culture Series, including
Watchmen and Philosophy
and
Black Sabbath and Philosophy
. His recent research interests include just war theory, critical legal studies, and American Indian Jurisprudence. Although he recognizes he’s ­getting old, he’s convinced that the reason most new music sounds like sh*t, is because it is sh*t. Doesn’t anyone listen to Dio anymore?
Henry Jacoby, Ph.D
., teaches philosophy at East Carolina University. His research interests, when he’s not playing guitar or practicing martial arts, include consciousness and the mind-body problem, the nature of moral perception, and the conditions for a meaningful life in a natural universe. He is the editor of
House and Philosophy: Everybody Lies
(now in nine languages), and
Game of Thrones and Philosophy: Logic Cuts Deeper Than Swords
. And yes, the rumors are true: he has become ungroundable.
Dale Jacquette, Ph.D
., is Senior Professorial Chair in Philosophy, Division for Logic and Theoretical Philosophy, University of Bern, Switzerland. Most of his research is in philosophical logic and analytic metaphysics, although he published an essay on “Satan Lord of Darkness in South Park Cosmology” for a previous
South Park and Philosophy
volume, and a handful of similarly weak occasional pieces on popular culture. He has adopted his pedagogical methodology from the South Park police department motto: To Patronize and Annoy.
David Kyle Johnson, Ph.D
., is an associate professor of philosophy of King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Academically he publishes on ­philosophy of religion, and has also done a grandiose amount of work on pop culture and philosophy. In addition to South Park, he has ­written articles on
Family Guy
,
The Office
,
The Onion
,
Batman
,
Battlestar Galactica
, Quentin Tarantino, Johnny Cash,
The Hobbit
,
Doctor Who
,
The Daily Show
, The Colbert Report and Santa Claus. He also edited the Blackwell volumes on the NBC show
Heroes
and Christopher Nolan’s movie
Inception
. Additionally, he hosts a ­pop-culture and philosophy blog, with the Blackwell series editor William Irwin, for
Psychology Today
: “Plato on Pop.” Lastly, despite being a card-carrying skeptic, Kyle believes, wholeheartedly, in the Jewpacabra and calls for him every night behind his house. (Kyle is not popular in his neighborhood.)
Cynthia Jones, Ph.D
., is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Ethics Center at The University of Texas – Pan American. She publishes and researches in healthcare and public health ethics, intelligence ethics, ethics and technology, and the moral issues in ­violence against women in border regions. Whenever she calls her partner, Cartman’s “You will respect my authoritah!” alerts him to the call.
Christopher C. Kirby, Ph.D
., is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Eastern Washington University. His general areas of research are in the history of ideas and comparative philosophy. He hopes one day to be able to wield the Sword of a Thousand Truths, or at least to catch the pink dragon. Either way, he’ll shout “Looks like you’re about to get pwnd!”
David Koepsell, Ph.D., J.D
., teaches ethics at the Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands and has written and edited numerous books and articles. including
Who Owns You: The Corporate Gold Rush to Patent Your Genes
(Wiley-Blackwell 2009) and
Breaking Bad and Philosophy: Badder Living Through Chemistry
(Open Court, 2012) co-edited with Robert Arp. Like all his contributions to his ­various popular culture and philosophy books, the one in this book was really written by manatees.
Kevin J. Murtagh, Ph.D
., has taught numerous philosophy courses in and around New York City since 2002. His book,
Corporal Punishment: A Humane Alternative to Incarceration
, was published in September of 2012. He wants to join the Allied Atheist Alliance, but because their membership is limited to sea otters, he has joined New York City Atheists instead.
Roberto Sirvent, Ph.D., J.D.,
is Assistant Professor of Political and Social Ethics at Hope International University. His primary research interests are hermeneutics and moral reasoning, and he is co-editor of the book
By Faith and Reason: The Essential Keith Ward
. He hopes no one at his church finds out that he saw, enjoyed, or wrote about
The Book of Mormon
. Is he going to hell? Probably.
Willie Young, Ph.D
., is Associate Professor of Humanities at Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts. He is the author of
The Politics of Praise: Naming God and Friendship in Aquinas and Derrida
, and
Uncommon Friendships: An Amicable History of Western Religious Thought
. He was the proud recipient of the 2010 Biggest Smug Cloud award at the Massachusetts Farming and Technology (MASSFART) Convention. His favorite cake flavor is Ferrari.

“About Last Night …,”

Ace of Base

aesthetics

Affleck, Ben

African-Americans

Against the Musicians

AIDS

Alcoholics Anonymous

“All About Mormons,”

Allah

Al-Qaeda

Al-Zawahiri

Anarchy, State and Utopia

Anderson, Kevin

animal intelligence

Animal Liberation Front

apathy

Apology
(Plato)