SErIEs EDItOr EDItED BY PHILOSOPHY/POP CULTURE IrwIN WILLIAM IrwIN ROBErt ArP AND THE UL KEVIN S. DECkEr What can Kyle, Cartman, Kenny, and Stan teach us about imagination, logic, and reason? Is South Park anti-religion? t THE ULtIMAtE IMA Is this tiny town in the Rockies democratic, anarchic, or something else? t E Will Mr. Garrison and Big Gay Al ever be happy together in gay marriage? In the six years since the original publication of South Park and Philosophy, the lives Respect My Philosophah! of Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny have become only more dysfunctional—too much dysfunctionality to pass up, in fact. Reflecting this wealth of fearless new comedic material, The Ultimate South Park and Philosophy presents a compilation of serious philosophical reflections on the twisted insights of the characters in TV’s most irreverent animated series. Burning philosophical questions addressed by notable thinkers in this new volume include blasphemy and Scientology, the problems of evil and guilt, and why the Crack Baby Athletic Association is wrong on so many levels. Topical issues warranting further philosophical consideration include the problem of Big Gay Al and marriage, faith in God in a world of Cartmanland-type evil, and, of course, if Kyle was on to something when he questioned whether his existence was AND PHILOSOPHY reality or just a dream. Combining an irreverence of its own with the minimal legal amount of philosophy, The Ultimate South Park and Philosophy allows readers to gain Respect My Philosophah! a deeper appreciation for South Park and a greater respect for the philosophah that AND springs from “Out of the potty-mouths of babes …” PHILO Robert Arp is an analyst working with the US government. He has done data modeling work as an ontologist, and has taught philosophy courses at colleges and universities, too. His interests include philosophy of biology, ontology in the information science sense, and philosophy and pop culture. S OPHY Kevin S. Decker teaches philosophy at Eastern Washington University, where he is also an Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Letters, and Education. His research interests are American pragmatism, Continental philosophy, ethics, philosophy and pop culture, and social theory. William Irwin is Professor of Philosophy at King’s College. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as co-editor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles including Superman and Philosophy, Black Sabbath and Philosophy, and Spider-Man and Philosophy. ISBN 978-1-118-38656-9 90000 To learn more about the Blackwell Philosophy and EDItED BY Pop Culture series, visit www.andphilosophy.com ArP AND DECkEr BLACKWELL PHILOSOpHY AND POp CULTURE SERIES This book has not been approved, licensed, or sponsored by any entity or 9 781118 386569 person involved in creating or producing South Park, the TV series. THE ULTIMATE SOUTH PARK AND PHILOSOPHY The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series Series editor: William Irwin A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, and a healthy helping of popular culture clears the cobwebs from Kant. Philosophy has had a public relations problem for a few centuries now. This series aims to change that, showing that philosophy is relevant to your life—and not just for answering the big questions like “To be or not to be?” but for answering the little questions: “To watch or not to watch South Park?” Thinking deeply about TV, movies, and music doesn’t make you a “complete idiot.” In fact it might make you a philosopher, someone who believes the unexamined life is not worth living and the unexamined cartoon is not worth watching. Already published in the series: 24 and Philosophy: The World According to Jack Inception and Philosophy: Because It’s Never Just a Dream Edited by Jennifer Hart Weed, Richard Brian Davis, Edited by David Johnson and Ronald Weed Iron Man and Philosophy: Facing the Stark Reality 30 Rock and Philosophy: We Want to Go to There Edited by Mark D. White Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski Lost and Philosophy: The Island Has Its Reasons Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy: Curiouser Edited by Sharon M. Kaye and Curiouser Mad Men and Philosophy: Nothing Is as It Seems Edited by Richard Brian Davis Edited by James South and Rod Carveth Arrested Development and Philosophy: They’ve Made a Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain Surgery Huge Mistake Edited by William Irwin Edited by Kristopher Phillips and J. Jeremy Wisnewski The Office and Philosophy: Scenes from The Avengers and Philosophy: Earth’s Mightiest Thinkers the Unfinished Life Edited by Mark D. White Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Edited by Mark D. White and Robert Arp Something Today Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Knowledge Here Edited by Robert Arp Begins Out There Spider-Man and Philosophy: The Web of Inquiry Edited by Jason T. Eberl Edited by Jonathan Sanford The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy: Rock, Paper, Terminator and Philosophy: I’ll Be Back, Therefore I Am Scissors, Aristotle, Locke Edited by Richard Brown and Kevin S. Decker Edited by Dean Kowalski True Blood and Philosophy: We Wanna Think Bad The Big Lebowski and Philosophy: Keeping Your Mind Things with You Limber with Abiding Wisdom Edited by George Dunn and Rebecca Housel Edited by Peter S. Fosl Twilight and Philosophy: Vampires, Vegetarians, and the Black Sabbath and Philosophy: Mastering Reality Pursuit of Immortality Edited by William Irwin Edited by Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski The Daily Show and Philosophy: Moments of Zen in the The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy: Hogwarts for Art of Fake News Muggles Edited by Jason Holt Edited by Gregory Bassham Downton Abbey and Philosophy: The Truth Is The Ultimate Lost and Philosophy: Think Together, Die Alone Neither Here Nor There Edited by Sharon Kaye Edited by Mark D. White The Walking Dead and Philosophy: Shotgun. Machete. Family Guy and Philosophy: A Cure for the Petarded Reason. Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski Edited by Christopher Robichaud Final Fantasy and Philosophy: The Ultimate Walkthrough Watchmen and Philosophy: A Rorschach Test Edited by Jason P. Blahuta and Michel S. Beaulieu Edited by Mark D. White Game of Thrones and Philosophy: Logic Cuts X-Men and Philosophy: Astonishing Insight and Uncanny Deeper Than Swords Argument in the Mutant X-Verse Edited by Henry Jacoby Edited by Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy: Superman and Philosophy: What Would the Man of Steel Do? Everything is Fire Edited by Mark D. White Edited by Eric Bronson The Ultimate Daily Show and Philosophy: More Moments Green Lantern and Philosophy: No Evil Shall Escape of Zen, More Moments of Indecision Theory this Book Edited by Jason Holt Edited by Jane Dryden and Mark D. White The Ultimate South Park and Philosophy: Respect My Heroes and Philosophy: Buy the Book, Save the World Philosophah! Edited by David Kyle Johnson Edited by Robert Arp and Kevin S. Decker The Hobbit and Philosophy: For When You’ve Lost Your Dwarves, Your Wizard, and Your Way Forthcoming: Edited by Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson Ender’s Game and Philosophy House and Philosophy: Everybody Lies Edited by Kevin S. Decker Edited by Henry Jacoby Sons of Anarchy and Philosophy The Hunger Games and Philosophy: A Critique of Edited by George Dunn and Jason Eberl Pure Treason Supernatural and Philosophy Edited by George Dunn and Nicolas Michaud Edited by Galen A. Foresman THE ULTIMATE SOUTH PARK AND PHILOSOPHY RESPECT MY PHILOSOPHAH! Edited by Robert Arp and Kevin S. Decker This edition first published 2013 © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Inc Wiley-Blackwell is an imprint of John Wiley & Sons, formed by the merger of Wiley’s global Scientific, Technical and Medical business with Blackwell Publishing. Registered Office John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK Editorial Offices 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell. The right of Robert Arp and Kevin S. Decker to be identified as the authors of of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. 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