Stephen Colbert and Philosophy - Aaron Allen Schiller [144]
130
Episode 1001, originally aired October 17th, 2005.
131
Even Bush’s former press secretary, Scott McClellan, has now confirmed this from an insider’s perspective. See his What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception (PublicAffairs, 2008).
132
See “Homer on Competition,” in Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality (Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 187-194.
133
For details on the Colbert “bump,” see Fowler’s “The Colbert Bump in Campaign Donations: More Truthful Than Truthy,” Political Science and Politics 41:3, pp. 533-39 (July 2008).
134
For the best discussion of the idea that philosophy was a way of life in the ancient world, and that Socrates established this tradition, see Pierre Hadot’s inimitable Philosophy as a Way of Life (Blackwell, 1995).
135
Episode 2050, originally aired April 19th, 2006.
136
Episode 2046, originally aired April 5th, 2006.
137
Episode 4056, originally aired April 28th, 2008.
138
Episode 4051, originally aired April 17th, 2008.
139
For instance, in his now infamous Crossfire interview (October 15th, 2004) or when he went on The O’Reilly Factor and said explicitly, “We don’t have an agenda to influence” (The O’Reilly Factor, September 17th, 2004).
140
Alexander Nehamas, The Art of Living (University of California Press, 1998), pp. 46-47.
141
I would like to thank Elijah Moyo, Alyson Lynch, Katherine Veach, Brian Wright, Andrew Bleiman, Maureen Melnyk, Misha Chkhenkeli, and Ratna Ralkowski for their thoughtful feedback on earlier drafts of this chapter. And I would especially like to thank Aaron Schiller for his extremely helpful and meticulous revision suggestions.
142
Episode 4026, originally aired February 27th, 2008.
143
See John Morreall, ed, The Philosophy of Laughter and Humor (SUNY Press, 1987).
144
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Culture and Value (University of Chicago Press, 1980), p. 78e.
145
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations (Prentice Hall, 1958), #23, p. 11e.
146
Ray Monk, Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius (Penguin, 1990), p. 509.
147
Philosophical Investigations, p. 193e.
148
Episode 4050, originally aired 4/16/2008.
149
Philosophical Investigations, p. 195e.
150
Episode 2096, originally aired July 30th, 2006.
151
Philosophical Investigations, p. 223e.
152
Philosophical Investigations, p. 8e.
153
See Hans-Johann Glock, A Wittgenstein Dictionary (Blackwell, 1996), p. 128.
154
James Poniewozik “Stephen Colbert and the Death of ‘The Room’,” Time (May 3rd, 2006), accessed July 25th, 2008.
155
A special thanks to Aaron Schiller, Adam Blodgett, Chris Pincock, and Bodhi Stone for their comments.
156
Episode 4063, originally aired May 8th, 2008.
157
Episode 4061, originally aired May 6th, 2008.
158
Episode 4065, originally aired May 13th, 2008.
159
Episode 2151, originally aired December 4th, 2006.
160
Episode 3043, originally aired March 28th, 2007.
161
Episode 4064, originally aired May 12th, 2008.
162
Episode 2140, originally aired November 7th, 2006.
163
Episode 4042, originally aired April 12th, 2008.
164
Episode 4064, originally aired May 12th, 2008.
165
Episode 4053, originally aired April 22nd, 2008.
166
Episode 4065, originally aired May 13th, 2008.
167
Episode 4066, originally aired May 14th, 2008.
168
Episode 4053, originally aired April 22nd, 2008.
169
Søren Kierkegaard, The Concept of Irony (Princeton University Press, 1989), pp. 248-49.
170
(Chelsea Green, 2007).
171
Episode 3117, originally aired September 19th, 2007.
172
This revealing backstage glimpse was provided by the left-leaning blog Talking Points Memo and can be found on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfiL2hpnmZ0
173
Episode 4065, originally aired May 13th, 2008.
174
Episode 4065, originally aired May 13th, 2008.
175
Episode 4064, originally aired May 12th, 2008.
176
Friedrich