William Irwin & David Kyle Johnson 
Introducing Philosophy Through Pop Culture 
From Socrates to South Park, Hume to House

What can South Park tell us about Socrates and the nature of evil? How does The Office help us to understand Sartre and existentialist ethics? Can Battlestar Galactica shed light on the existence of God?

* Introducing Philosophy Through Pop Culture uses popular culture to illustrate important philosophical concepts and the work of the major philosophers

* With examples from film, television, and music including South Park, The Matrix , X-Men, Batman, Harry Potter, Metallica and Lost, even the most abstract and complex philosophical ideas become easier to grasp

* Features key essays from across the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, as well as helpful editorial material and a glossary of philosophical terms

* From metaphysics to epistemology; from ethics to the meaning of life, this unique introduction makes philosophy as engaging as popular culture itself

* Supplementary website available with teaching guides, sample materials and links to further resources at www.pop-philosophy.org

About the author

William Irwin is professor of Philosophy and Director of the
Honors Program at King’s College in Pennsylvania. In addition
to publishing in leading scholarly journals such as Philosophy
and Literature and The Journal of Aesthetics and Art
Criticism, Irwin originated the philosophy and popular culture
genre of books with Seinfeld and Philosophy in 1999. Irwin
has also co-edited The Simpsons and Philosophy and edited
The Matrix and Philosophy and Metallica and
Philosophy. He is currently the General Editor of the Blackwell
Philosophy and Pop Culture series.

David Kyle Johnson is assistant professor of Philosophy
at King’s College in Pennsylvania. In addition to his
scholarly work on philosophy of religion, Johnson has edited
Heroes and Philosophy and is also a contributor to the
Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, having written
chapters on South Park, Family Guy, The Office,
Battlestar Galactica, and Batman. Johnson hosts a
podcast on Pop Culture and Philosophy at
www.philosophyandpopculture.com.