Stephen Colbert and Philosophy - Aaron Allen Schiller [147]
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Three Overused, Outdated, and Overrun Philosophical Theories of Humor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 Conventions
Colbert Catharsis
Give the Id a Chance
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Absurd
Ironic Inquisition
ThreatDown: Taming the Bear Within
Moving On
Chapter 13 - Why Mr. Colbert Should Be President
Why They Try to Keep Our Man Down
Nietzsche’s Super-Man Philosophy
The Sheep (aka The South Carolina Democratic Executive Council)
What Mr. Colbert Got Right and Nietzsche Got Wrong
Why Christianity Is Tougher than All Those Other Religions
What Mr. Colbert Has Taught Us (Besides Everything)
FINAL SEGMENT - What Stephen Colbert Tells Us about Being America
Chapter 14 - Colorblindness and Black Friends in Stephen Colbert’s America
People Tell Me I’m White
Some of My Best Friends Are Black
Stephen’s License to Offend
Claiming Rights, Shirking Responsibilities
Truthiness and the Denial of Responsibility
Chapter 15 - The Wealth of Colbert Nations
The Marketplace: Free or Freest?
The Academy: Left or Leftest?
Why Socrates Thinks Stephen Is Wrong
I’m Done: But The Editor Expects Some Sort of Fancy Conclusion
Chapter 16 - Freedom Isn’t Free, but Freem Is
Keeping America Freem
Find the Cost of Freemdom …
… And the Truth Shall Set You Freem?
Born Freem?
Doing Nothing Is Still Doing Something
Who Watches the Watchers?
TAKE THE ISHIHARA RACE TEST
Citizens of the Colbert Nation
Factinista’s Choice
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
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