Stephen Colbert and Philosophy - Aaron Allen Schiller [133]
BRAD FRAZIER is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Wells College in Aurora, New York. He recently published Rorty and Kierkegaard on Irony and Moral Commitment: Philosophical and Theological Connections (2006). He also has published essays in Philosophy and Social Criticism, Journal of Religious Ethics, International Philosophical Quarterly, History of Philosophy Quarterly, and The Daily Show and Philosophy. He resides in Aurora with his spouse, Dianne, and three children, Timothy, Jonathan, and Anna, where he awaits the second coming of the God-Machine.
JEFFREY GAUTHIER earned a BS from the Midwest’s most famed bastion of liberalism, the University of Chicago, and a PhD from the University of California at San Diego’s Neurosciences program. He currently suckles on the enormous government teat of biomedical research funds as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla. He would like to take this opportunity to formally thank President Obama for mentioning “nonbelievers” in his inaugural address, thus bringing us one step closer to the day when America can be truly god-blind.
STEVE GIMBEL is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Gettysburg College. His research focuses on the history and philosophy of science. Regularly teaching logic at 8:00 A.M., he adores Formidable Opponent because he likes watching someone else talk to himself for a change. He is an amateur stand-up comedian who accepts the advice to keep his day job since being a tenured philosopher sure beats working for a living.
JOHN E. JACOBSON is a PhD Candidate at the University of California, San Diego and a Graduate Student Researcher in the Computational Neurobiology Lab at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla. He’s an experimental neurophilosopher, which means that he studies the brain, not the gut—conducts EEG recordings, not hunch surveys. He recommends that we call the branches of “Experimental Philosophy” which study intuitions to learn which ones provide reliable metaphysical insight “Colbertian Experimental Philosophy,” and call those branches of philosophy which do not trade in experiments at all “Colbertian Philosophy,” to honor Colbert’s aprioristic, truthy, gut centrism. His hobby is conversation.
DAVID KYLE JOHNSON is currently an assistant professor of philosophy at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre. His philosophical specializations include philosophy of religion, logic, and metaphysics. He has also written chapters on South Park, Family Guy, The Office, Battlestar Galactica, Quentin Tarantino, Johnny Cash, and Batman, and is currently editing a forthcoming book on Heroes. He has taught many classes that focus on the relevance of philosophy to pop culture, including a course devoted to South Park. Kyle has two pieces of advice. “First, when car dealers tell you ‘We’ll accept your trade in no matter how much you owe’ that does not mean that they are going to pay off what you still owe; it’s just added to your new loan. Listen to the fast talking guy at the end, people. Second, the best career advice I can give you is this: ‘Write a chapter in a pop culture and philosophy book.’ It pays squat, it takes up tons of time, and you’ll be just as un-famous as you were before you began. And eventually, a nice editor will let you add your own jokes to your profile.”
Until recently NICOLAS MICHAUD taught philosophy at the University of North Florida, Jacksonville University, and the Art Institute of Jacksonville. Now, having discovered that Mr. Colbert is the man of the future, Nick has given up a life of philosophy in the