Rating: 
Summary: The simpsons and Philosophy: a great combination!!!!
Review: This book totally reeks of awesomeness! I loved it. I have a whole new outlook of the Simpsons from a philosophical stand point. I also have an appreciation of philosophy from a Simpsonical stand point. Rock on!
Rating: 
Summary: More Simpsons Please
Review: This book was less about how philosophy relates to the Simpsons than it was how the Simpsons relate to philosophy. Almost every essay would describe a tenet of philosophy in great detail and then it would somehow remind them of this one instance in The Simpsons. I felt the essays would be both more enjoyable and interesting if more of The Simpsons were in the essays. It seemed to me that The Simpsons were just the ruse to get me to read a book about philosophy. I felt a lot of the essays were not successful proving their theses in relation to The Simpsons. On the plus side, I did enjoy the essay about Lisa.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than I expected
Review: This book, although not great, was better than I expected. Some of the chapters are both interesting as well as entertaining in their discussions of the Simpsons as philosophy. Others are somewhat weaker, and there are a few duds. But overall, I thought it turned out pretty well, and some of the chapters are pretty imaginative even if the philosophical significance of it all gets stretched a little thin at times. So I give the authors of each chapter credit for being pretty creative if nothing else. Overall, not a bad book and more interesting and entertaining than I was expecting.
Rating:
Summary: Show how the Simpsons are deeper then you thought.
Review: This is a great book. It chiefly shows how a show like the Simpsons can provide different levels of entertainment to different people. In this case is focuses on what the show had to offer to folks of a philosophical bent. Now this is a collection of essays written by different authors and while as a whole the book is awsome, that doesn't mean some of the essays aren't on the dry side, but only 1 or 2 in my opinion. This book would be a great way of gettting a grip on certain philosophical ideas without getting bored to death by a textbook and picking up some simpson's trivia along the way.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent insights!
Review: This is a wonderful book! The author keeps The Simpsons relevant at all times; the philosophy discussions are deep, but they tend to stick to laymen's terms and doesn't go off the deep end with lengthy explanations. To me, it seems that it doesn't pertain as much to the more recent episodes, but that's a critique of the show's lousy writers these days, not the author of this book. Buy this and you shall not be disappointed!
Rating:
Summary: Learn about philosophy and rehash the best of the Simpsons
Review: This is a wonderfully clever book that combines a quality social satire with philosophy. For Simpson fans out there, you will learn about philosophy as much as you rehash Simpson episodes. The best aspect of this book is that you really don't need to know anything about either of these subject to enjoy the book. The first chapters start out strong, especially Lisa's chapter and the ambivalence toward American intellectualism. What's more, after finishing this book I found myself wanting to learn more about Nietzschean and Aristotelian ideals. The book does not introduce any new topics to philosophy, but puts historical thoughts into an amusing and relatable manners. The end of the book seemed slightly repetitive in thought and somewhat confusing for a philosophy layperson like me. Nevertheless, despite its sluggish lst few chapters, the beginning more than makes up for it.
Rating: 
Summary: A collection of good and bad
Review: Unlike the "companion book" of The Gospel According to the Simpsons, this book is only irregularly insightful and does not have the same amount of humor. Some of the essays in this book are fun, but others are closer to scholarly papers than general reading. These latter writings tend to be overly technical and/or tedious. In addition, in an attempt to overanalyze various parts of the show, the writers often either miss the point. The old saying is sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. It's the same way with humor. Sometimes a joke is just that: a cigar.
Rating:
Summary: Lifting the veil of Springfield, USA
Review: Wanna know a dark & dirty secret? Well, even scholars watch (and delight in) The Simpsons, the mega-hit FOX animated series. And perhaps to justify their evil little pleasures eighteen of them have contributed enticing, engaging and enlightening essays into what's really going on in Springfield, USA and what it all means in terms of a multitude of humanistic & social science disciplines. Now while some of the text may be heady stuff for the average reader, let me relieve you of any concern that this is simply dry academic mumbo-jumbo. "The Simpsons and Philosophy" addresses the themes, characters, and particular plots that demonstrates Homer and his crowd are the contemporary everyman, both reflecting & reinforcing the values, beliefs & mores of American society. Each contributor takes a particular tack, from a philosophical, literary, semiotic, media studies, textual, or political, viewpoint to address a certain feature of the series. But I should advise the casual fan not to be intimated by the themes for each author cogently outlines the thesis of their subject allowing the reader a crash, but articulate survey into the thinking of scholars ranging from Aristotle to Nietzsche, Marx to Kant, Saussure to Fiske before moving on to provide exemplars from actual episodes of the classic series. Some stuffed-shirts ivory tower types may moan at colleagues who pay much attention to what is on American television these days, let alone an animated cartoon. This is low culture (in the aesthetic sense) they scowl and academic should only address the classics. But as a former mentor of mine would often opine, how can we ignore something that engages millions upon millions of people. If it is important enough for the masses to watch, it should be salient enough for scholars to investigate. And so for both scholar and layman, as long as they are fans of the show (and who isn't!) or just for those with a general interest in a singularly ubiquitous pop culture phenomenon, "The Simpsons and Philosophy" is a joy to grasp, an easy but informative (and frequently laughable) read.
Rating:
Summary: sheer genius!
Review: Yes, it takes a great mind to dream of such things as the categorical imperative, the examined life, the superman (not Clark Kent), and the virtuous mean. But it takes a different kind of genius to take those great ideas and find them in contemporary entertainment. Now, don't pick this book up expecting the next big thing in philosophy, but instead pick it up to see how real the pre-existing ideas are as we see them incorporated in our favorite characters. The Simpsons has always been meaningful, which is a rare, though certainly not unseen, quality in today's culture. But the great thing is that this book touches on many aspects of that meaning that we might not have noticed. Although some essays are a bit dry, most of them really hit the spot. Homer and Marge are examined for Aristotelian virtue; Bart is revealed to be the antithesis of the Nietzschean ideal in an essay that at first tries to prove the opposite; and the population of Springfield is looked at from a Kantian and from a Marxist point of view, among others. If you're a Simpsons fan, this book will heighten your enjoyment. If you're one of those people who don't "get" philosophy and want to know more, this book is an ideal introduction. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: sheer genius!
Review: Yes, it takes a great mind to dream of such things as the categorical imperative, the examined life, the superman (not Clark Kent), and the virtuous mean. But it takes a different kind of genius to take those great ideas and find them in contemporary entertainment. Now, don't pick this book up expecting the next big thing in philosophy, but instead pick it up to see how real the pre-existing ideas are as we see them incorporated in our favorite characters. The Simpsons has always been meaningful, which is a rare, though certainly not unseen, quality in today's culture. But the great thing is that this book touches on many aspects of that meaning that we might not have noticed. Although some essays are a bit dry, most of them really hit the spot. Homer and Marge are examined for Aristotelian virtue; Bart is revealed to be the antithesis of the Nietzschean ideal in an essay that at first tries to prove the opposite; and the population of Springfield is looked at from a Kantian and from a Marxist point of view, among others. If you're a Simpsons fan, this book will heighten your enjoyment. If you're one of those people who don't "get" philosophy and want to know more, this book is an ideal introduction. Enjoy!
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