Series of Philosophy and Pop Culture Books Great for Fans of Both

Buffy, R2D2, Homer Simpson...and Aristotle?

When thinking about reading books on philosophy one usually imagines thick books filled with pages of dry theorizing characterized by unusually long sentences punctuated by words only a doctoral candidate would use. Here is the opening line of one of the most incisive books about philosophy that I've read in quite some time: "Homer Simpson does no fare well when evaluated morally."

Duh. Or should I say D'oh!

Open Court publishers have been releasing books in their Popular Culture and Philosophy Series since the turn of the millennium. (Well, actually, since before the turn of the millennium since everyone who celebrated Jan. 1 2000 was really celebrating a full year ahead of schedule, but that's another article.) In 2000, Open Court released Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing. Since then they've covered the philosophic aspect of such widely diverse pop culture icons as The Matrix, baseball, The Sopranos, and the films of Woody Allen. In preparation is a book entitled The Atkins Diet and Philosophy.

I am not making that up.

The three best releases so far in this series, (or at least the three that I've read completely through so far) deal with philosophy and The Simpsons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Star Wars. Each book is actually a collection of essays by academics. But don't let that scare, these are college professors with a knack for writing, knowledge of both philosophy and pop culture, and a sense of humor. Make sure you read the about the authors section in the back of each book, they are quite humorous.