Stephen Colbert and Philosophy - Aaron Allen Schiller [0]
Popular Culture and Philosophy Series Editor: George A. Reisch
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Philosophy for Heroes
FIRST SEGMENT - The WØRD: First Principles of Colbertian Philosophy
Chapter 1 - Colbert, Truthiness, and Thinking from the Gut
My Truth
Moral Relativism
Justifying from the Gut
“That’s My Right”
The Truth about Politics and Philosophy
Where Do We Go from Here?
Chapter 2 - Formidable Opponent and the Necessity of Moral Doubt
Moral Doubt
Why Moral Doubt Is a Good Thing
The Source of Moral Doubt
The Who in Ethics
The What in Ethics
The How Much in Ethics
The Whom in Ethics
Special Status in Ethics
Explaining Moral Doubt
Chapter 3 - Things that Make You Go “What?”
To Avoid Begging the Question, Don’t Ask Questions!
Giving Everyone the Chance to Agree with You
Truthseeking in the No Fact Zone: Helping You Spread the Message of Me
Systematically Anti-Systematic: He Said, She Said, Enough Said
Hundred Percent Hypo -Analytical: Don’t Like It? Label It!
Anti-Judicious: Giving You the Chance to See Why You’re Wrong
Under-Confidence in Reason: Once It’s Easier Said, then It’s Done
Chapter 4 - Philosophy at Play
Play and Seriousness
Politics, Play, and the End of Life
Sin, Play, and the “Synagogues of Satan”
Chapter 5 - No Need for the Wordinistas at Webster’s
The Meaningness of Terms
Senseness and Nonsenseness
Paul Grice’s Implicature
Colbert Examplality
Implicature and Humorosity
Original Wordality
Conclestions
SECOND SEGMENT - The ThreatDown: Truthiness
Chapter 6 - Truth, Truthiness, and Bullshit for the American Voter
The Gut and the Heart
Just the Facts, Ma’am
The Politics of Bullshit
The Truthiness of the Vote
Wishing and Dogmatism
Chapter 7 - Truthiness of the Appearances
Do You Know the Stuff You Think You Know? No!
Better Know a Skeptic: A Four-Part Series
Pyrrhonian Skepticism: Belief Is Undesirable
Modern Skepticism: Knowledge Is Impossible
Indian Skepticism: Concepts of Knowledge Are Incoherent
Political Skepticism: American Democracy Inaction
Stephen Colbert: Skeptic, Smart-Ass, or Both?
Skeptical Politics: Where’s the Commitment?
Truthiness of the Appearances
It-Getting: The Truth about Truthiness
Chapter 8 - The WØRD: Fearless Speech and the Politics of Language
“The WØRD”: Parrhesia
Free Speech Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry
Talking Is a Gateway to Thinking
Speaking from the Gut
American Democracy, Mass Media, and the Politics of Language
Media Culpa
“The WØRD”: Reading Between the Lines
An Out of Control “Fact Insurgency”
But Does Political Satire Promote Democratic Values?
Chapter 9 - Philosophy in the Age of Truthiness
The Age of Truthiness: How Did We Get Here?
How Do You Sell a Mediocre Product?
Advertising and the Avoidance of Reason
Contemporary Politics
Elitism
Having the Right to Believe Doesn’t Mean that Your Belief is Right
Objectivity
The Coming of the Gasbags
Intuition
Philosophy in the Age of Truthiness
THIRD SEGMENT - Better Know a Philosopher
Chapter 10 - Is Stephen Colbert America’s Socrates?
Socrates the Social Critic
Writing on the Walls of the Cave
Colbert’s War on Truthiness
Colbert Is (the Tragedy and Comedy of) America, and So Are We
Chapter 11 - Why Is Stephen Colbert So Funny?
Café au Laugh
Three Overused, Outdated, and Overrun Philosophical Theories of Humor
That Quirky Philosopher Wittgenstein and his Language Games
A Robust, Rotund, and Rofound Philosophy of Humor
There Are Forms, and then There Are Forms of Life
Humorous Altitude, Aptitude, and Attitude
Avowal, not an Owl
Chapter 12 - Where Id Was, There Stephen Colbert Shall Be!
Colbert’s Id-ish Improv and Irony
Balancing the Balls
Talk Dirty to Me: Tell Me You Want My Geneva