PHILOSOPHY/POP CULTURE IRWIN Is being nice overrated? Are we really just selfi sh, base animals crawling HOUSE across Earth in a meaningless existence? Would reading less and watching more television be good for you? Is House a master of Eastern philosophy or just plain rude? Dr. Gregory House is arguably the most complex and challenging antihero in the history of television, but is there more to this self-important genius than AND gray matter and ego? This book takes a deeper look at House to reveal the PHILOSOPHY philosophical underpinnings of this popular medical drama and its cane-waving curmudgeon’s most outrageous behavior. What emerges is a remarkable character who is part Sherlock Holmes, part Socratic philosopher, part Nietzschean superman, part Taoist rhetorician, and not at all as screwed up as you might think. With everything from Aristotle to Zen, House and Philosophy takes an engaging look at everyone’s favorite misanthropic genius and his team at Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital. EVERYBODY LIES EVERYBODY HENRY JACOBY teaches philosophy at East Carolina University. He has published articles on the philosophy of mind and contributed to South Park and Philosophy. He lives in Goldsboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kathryn, and their two cats, Bunkai and Willow. WILLIAM IRWIN i s a p r ofe s s o r of p h il o s o p hy a t K i n g’s C o ll e g e, Pe n n sy l va n i a . He has coedited The Simpsons and Philosophy and edited Seinfeld and Philosophy, The Matrix and Philosophy, and Metallica and Philosophy. $17.95 USA / $19.95 CAN COVER DESIGN: PAUL McCARTHY COVER IMAGES: © GETTY IMAGES EDITED BY JACOBY ftoc.indd viii 9/17/08 11:38:19 AM HOUSE AND PHILOSOPHY ffirs.indd i 9/17/08 11:37:46 AM The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series Series Editor: William Irwin South Park and Philosophy Edited by Robert Arp Metallica and Philosophy Edited by William Irwin Family Guy and Philosophy Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski The Daily Show and Philosophy Edited by Jason Holt Lost and Philosophy Edited by Sharon Kaye 24 and Philosophy Edited by Richard Davis, Jennifer Hart Week, and Ronald Weed Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy Edited by Jason T. Eberl The Offi ce and Philosophy Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski Batman and Philosophy Edited by Mark D. White and Robert Arp Heroes and Philosophy Edited by David Kyle Johnson ffirs.indd ii 9/17/08 11:37:46 AM HOUSE AND PHILOSOPHY EVERYBODY LIES Edited by Henry Jacoby John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ffirs.indd iii 9/17/08 11:37:46 AM Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmit- ted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scan- ning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. 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PN1992.77.H63H65 2008 791.45'72—dc22 2008016842 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ffirs.indd iv 9/17/08 11:37:47 AM CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: What? You Want Me to Thank You? ix Introduction: Read Less, More TV: A Cranky, Slightly Rude Introduction 1 Henry Jacoby PART ONE “HUMANITY IS OVERRATED”: HOUSE ON LIFE 1 Selfi sh, Base Animals Crawling Across the Earth: House and the Meaning of Life 5 Henry Jacoby 2 House and Sartre: “Hell Is Other People” 17 Jennifer L. McMahon 3 Is There a Superman in the House?: A Nietzschean Point of View 30 David Goldblatt 4 House and Moral Luck 39 Jane Dryden v ftoc.indd v 9/17/08 11:38:19 AM vi CONTENTS PART TWO “WELCOME TO THE END OF THE THOUGHT PROCESS:” HOUSE’S LOGIC AND METHOD 5 The Logic of Guesswork in Sherlock Holmes and House 55 Jerold J. Abrams 6 It Explains Everything! 71 Barbara Anne Stock 7 The Sound of One House Clapping: The Unmannerly Doctor as Zen Rhetorician 84 Jeffrey C. Ruff and Jeremy Barris 8 “Being Nice Is Overrated”: House and Socrates on the Necessity of Confl ict 98 Melanie Frappier 9 Is There a Daoist in the House? 112 Peter Vernezze PART THREE “IT IS THE NATURE OF MEDICINE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO SCREW UP”: HOUSE AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES 10 “You Care for Everybody”: Cameron’s Ethics of Care 125 Renee Kyle 11 To Intubate or Not to Intubate: House’s Principles and Priorities 137 Barbara Anne Stock and Teresa Blankmeyer Burke 12 House and Medical Paternalism: “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.” 150 Mark R. Wicclair ftoc.indd vi 9/17/08 11:38:19 AM CONTENTS vii 13 If the End Doesn’t Justify the Means, Then What Does? 164 Catherine Sartin 14 House vs. Tritter: On the Clash of Theoretical and Practical Authority 174 Kenneth Ehrenberg PART FOUR “THE DRUGS DON’T MAKE ME HIGH, THEY MAKE ME NEUTRAL”: VIRTUES AND CHARACTER ON HOUSE 15 House and the Virtue of Eccentricity 187 John R. Fitzpatrick 16 Love: The Only Risk House Can’t Take 198 Sara Protasi 17 A Prescription for Friendship 209 Sara Waller 18 Diagnosing Character: A House Divided? 222 Heather Battaly and Amy Coplan CONTRIBUTORS: Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital Staff 239 INDEX: Index of Differential Diagnoses 247 ftoc.indd vii 9/17/08 11:38:19 AM ftoc.indd viii 9/17/08 11:38:19 AM ACKNOWLEDGMENTS What? You Want Me to Thank You? First, I want to thank Bill Irwin for giving me the opportunity to work on this book. I couldn ’t have done it without his guidance, patient help, and consistent sage advice. Bill, you ’ re truly one of the good guys, and it has been a pleasure to work with you. Thanks to Jeff Dean, who fi rst got things rolling. Since then, Connie Santisteban and all the nice people at Wiley have been great to work with. Thanks for all your help and support throughout this project. I ’ m grateful to my fellow philosophers who contributed their wonderful essays. Your good work made my job easy. My great friend and fellow guitar god Alan Berman actu- ally read what I wrote and made creative suggestions. Not only that, he was always there when needed. Without the talented people who work on House , there, of course, would be no book to write. Thanks for your brilliant hour of intelligent entertainment each week. At home, my two cats, Bunkai and Willow, helped a lot, mostly by sleeping so I could work. They also took turns sit- ting with me when I needed inspiration. They are true Zen Masters. Finally, there ’ s my wife, Kathryn. Sweeter than Cameron, more patient than Wilson. And she helps with the typing. I can ’ t do any of it without you. ix flast.indd ix 9/17/08 11:38:42 AM flast.indd x 9/17/08 11:38:42 AM INTRODUCTION Read Less, More TV: A Cranky, Slightly Rude Introduction Henry Jacoby Dr. Gregory House, that brilliant pill - popping bastard, limps along the halls of Princeton - Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, knocking aside medical ethics with a wave of his cane. He tells us that everybody lies, that humanity is overrated, and that it ’ s the nature of medicine that you ’ re going to screw up. And one more thing: Read less, more TV! Yeah, House says that, too. But he wasn ’t talking about this book. You really should read this book, the one you ’ re now holding in your hands.