This unconventional and lighthearted introduction to the ideas of the major Western philosophers examines The Simpsons — TV’s favorite animated family. The authors look beyond the jokes, the crudeness, the attacks on society — and see a clever display of irony, social criticism, and philosophical thought. The writers begin with an examination of the characters. Does Homer actually display Aristotle’s virtues of character? In what way does Bart exemplify American pragmatism? The book also examines the ethics and themes of the (...) show, and concludes with discussions of how the series reflects the work of Aristotle, Marx, Camus, Sartre, and other thinkers. (shrink)

Adored by a post-war American public, ripe for the egoism expounded in her writings, novelist Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism held many in their sway. But when Ayn asks her husband to set aside his emotions and accept that she has found another lover purely as a result of reason, her husband, her lover, and her lover's wife, all adherents to Rand's philosophy, must submit to one of its perverse conclusions. In The Emotionalists, award-winning playwright Sky Gilbert reveals (...) a towering intellect caught in her own contradictions and a society of friends damaged by their principles. Gilbert's command of his characters, enmeshed in their Objectivist conundrum, is masterful. The Emotionalists is an intelligent, witty, and disturbing examination of the limits of reason and the need for honest emotion. (shrink)

Here we can find out about irony and the meaning of life, the politics of the nuclear family, Marxism in Springfield, the elusiveness of happiness, popular parody as a form of tribute, and why we need animated TV shows. As if all that weren't enough, this book actually contains the worst philosophy essay ever.

An essential guide to the life and works of Ayn Rand, the book chronicles and summarizes her writings, presents information about her national and global impact—and the response to it—and provides the most comprehensive bibliography published to date. Written by an independent scholar who is not part of either the Ayn Rand establishment or the Ayn Rand detractor camp, The New Ayn Rand Companion builds on the foundation of the original. New materials about Rand's posthumous publications, the latest biographical information, (...) and summaries of books and articles about Rand, published since her death, have been added. Burgeoning interest in Rand, the publication of her Letters and Journals and Russian Writings, and the growing body of critical works necessitates an expanded and revised edition of the Ayn Rand Companion. This new edition is the only general reference work that covers the complete Rand corpus, including both those works published during her life and those published to date. (shrink)

The relationship between Rand and Branden changed over eighteen yaears from student and teacher, to friends, to colleagues, to lovers and finally antagonists.

Chris Matthew Sciabarra surveys discussions of Ayn Rand in the literature on Progressive rock music. He examines critically Edward Macan's Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture, Paul Stump's The Music's All That Matters: A History of Progressive Rock, Carol Selby Price and Robert M. Price's Mystic Rhythms: The Philosophical Vision of Rush, Bill Martin's Listening to the Future: The Time of Progressive Rock, 1968-1978 , and Durrell S. Bowman's essay on the rock band Rush in Kevin Holm-Hudson's (...) Progressive Rock Reconsidered. He argues that the authors show varying degrees of understanding of Rand's brand of "redemptive politics." [html version available]. (shrink)

The bestselling biography of one of the 20th century's most remarkable and controversial writers. Author Barbara Branden, who knew Rand for nineteen years, provides a matchless portrait of this fiercely private and complex woman.

ROBERT M. PRICE replies to Sciabarra's criticism that Carol Selby Price and Robert Price's Mystic Rhythms erroneously classifies Rush lyricist Neil Peart as "conservative." "Conservative" may imply limitation of individual freedom by the government—or by organized religion. Peart leans more toward a non-religious libertarianism and Rand's Objectivism, which may be considered "conservative" in the same narrow sense. Ironically, Randian thinkers share with religion the use of the Hero Myth archetype. Price focuses on recent Rand-type comic book superheroes, including Steve Ditko's (...) Mister A and The Question, and Alan Moore's parody on these, Rorschach. (shrink)

STEPHEN COX argues that American capitalism has found remarkably few exponents among modern American writers. Capitalists themselves have often been remarkably ineffective in expounding its principles. The most vigorous advocacy of capitalism has tended to come from people who stood at a distance from America's literary and social mainstream. Among them was Ayn Rand, who by writing from the "outside" succeeded in finding new imaginative constructions of the "inside" of American life. This essay examines the play of perspectives-inside and outside-in (...) The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and the ironies and parodies that result from the literary relationships of those perspectives. (shrink)