P O P U L A R C U L T U R E A N D P H I L O S O P H Y ® PHILOSOPHY / TV and FILM POPULAR CULTURE AND PHILOSOPHY® S C tephen T. Colbert, “This smart and lively crew gets it, which H Ph.D., D.S.M., D.F.A., is to say, they are it-getters. They get I is an inspiration to that Colbert is more than funny, and they L billions of Americans. help all of us better understand that he L What other man has much to teach us about the great E could have won both philosophical debates of our times.” R an Olympic gold — GEOFFREY BAYM, University of North medal and the Carolina, Greensboro S Nobel Peace T Prize? “Media culpa! If Stephen Colbert E interviewed Plato, what would Sadly, until now, P Socrates say? This romp through the Dr. Colbert has H great philosophers and philosophical not received adequate perspectives helps us understand the E immortal question: How do we know adulation by the N stuff? No manual for wordinistas, this intellectual elite, for book shows us how philosophy offers the simple reason that these ivy-covered C useful correctives to the pitfalls of invertebrates have no balls and therefore truthiness in American life.” O don’t get it. — W. LANCE BENNETT, co-author of L Meanwhile, Aaron Allen Schiller, under When the Press Fails: Political Power B deep cover as a so-called “professor and the News Media from Iraq to of philosophy,” has assembled a crack Katrina E team of professional it-getters, with R more balls than Obama’s inauguration. “Not since Socrates, has a gadfly stung They have clandestinely infiltrated the T his State with so much irony. An Americaphobic cloisters of academe, American treasure, Stephen Colbert A with but a single fixed and indomitable is an audacious social philosopher at purpose: to manufacture and release this N heart—and here are the essays to prove awesome weapon of mass destruction, it. Readers with no background in D Stephen Colbert and Philosophy. When philosophy will find much truthiness in the shock and awe die down, philosophy these pages, and see a whole new side P will be set on its true course: uncovering to their favorite satire.” H and expounding the timeless insights of — STEPHEN T. ASMA, author of The Gods Stephen Colbert. I Drink Whiskey L Stephen Colbert and Philosophy is a O STEPHEN family-friendly product, with very little Aaron Allen Schiller is a baseball fan, salacious or offensive content, in fact cyclist, longboarder, cat owner, and S C almost none. Reluctance to purchase home brewer. He has reportedly told O this book may possibly be a sign of some of his associates he “teaches disloyalty to our great nation and will philosophy” at the University of P olbert unnecessarily prolong the economic Wisconsin at Milwaukee. H hard times. Y AND PHILOSOPHY OPEN COURT: CHICAGO AND LA SALLE, ILLINOIS -FPO BAR CODE- FOR OTHER TITLES IN THE POPULAR CULTURE AND PRINTER, PLEASE STRIP IN I AM PHILOSOPHY (AND SO CAN YOU!) PHILOSOPHY® SERIES, VISIT OPENCOURTBOOKS.COM ACTUAL BAR CODE HERE. COVER DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION: SHANE ARBOGAST, WWW.SHANEARBOGAST.COM E D I T E D B Y A A R O N A L L E N S C H I L L E R Colbert and Philosophy 4/5/09 7:46 PM Page i Stephen Colbert and Philosophy Colbert and Philosophy 4/5/09 7:46 PM Page ii Popular Culture and Philosophy® Series Editor: George A. Reisch VOLUME1 VOLUME18 VOLUME31 Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book Harley-Davidson and Philosophy: Johnny Cash and Philosophy: about Everything and Nothing Full-Throttle Aristotle(2006) The Burning Ring of Truth(2008) (2000) Edited by Bernard E. Rollin, Edited by John Huss and David Carolyn M. 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Copyright © 2009 by Carus Publishing Company First printing 2009 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Open Court Publishing Company, a division of Carus Publishing Company, 315 Fifth Street, P.O. Box 300, Peru, Illinois, 61354-3000. Printed and bound in the United States of America. n: Joan Som Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Stephen Colbert and philosophy : I am philosophy (and so can you!) /edited by Aaron Allen Schiller. p. cm.—(Popular culture and philosophy ; v. 41) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8126-9661-5 (trade paper : alk. paper) 1. Colbert, Stephen, 1964—Criticism and interpretation. I. Schiller, Aaron Allen, 1974 PN2287.C5695S35 2009 791.4502’8092—dc22 [B] 2008039722 Colbert and Philosophy 4/5/09 7:46 PM Page v This book is dedicated to the Colbert Nation Colbert and Philosophy 4/5/09 7:46 PM Page vi Colbert and Philosophy 4/5/09 7:46 PM Page vii Contents Acknowledgments ix Philosophy for Heroes AARON ALLEN SCHILLER xi FIRST SEGMENT The WØRD: First Principles of Colbertian Philosophy 1 1. Colbert, Truthiness, and Thinking from the Gut DAVID KYLE JOHNSON 3 2. Formidable Opponent and the Necessity of Moral Doubt STEVEN GIMBEL 19 3. Things that Make You Go “What?” ROBEN TOROSYAN 29 4. Philosophy at Play RACHAEL SOTOS 51 5. No Need for the Wordinistas at Webster’s JASON SOUTHWORTH 63 SECOND SEGMENT The ThreatDown: Truthiness 75 6. Truth, Truthiness, and Bullshit for the American Voter MATTHEW F. PIERLOTT 77 7. Truthiness of the Appearances ETHAN MILLS 95 8. “The WØRD”: Fearless Speech and the Politics of Language MICHAEL TIBORIS and KORY SCHAFF 115 9. Philosophy in the Age of Truthiness DAVID DETMER 131 vii Colbert and Philosophy 4/5/09 7:46 PM Page viii viii Contents THIRD SEGMENT Better Know a Philosopher 143 10. Is Stephen Colbert America’s Socrates? MARK RALKOWSKI 145 11. Why Is Stephen Colbert So Funny? SOPHIA STONE 163 12. Where Id Was, There Stephen Colbert Shall Be! BRAD FRAZIER 179 13. Why Mr. Colbert Should Be President NICOLAS MICHAUD 195 FINAL SEGMENT What Colbert Tells Us about Being America 205 14. Colorblindness and Black Friends in Stephen Colbert’s America AARON ALLEN SCHILLER 207 15. The Wealth of Colbert Nations KURT SMITH 223 16. Freedom Isn’t Free, but Freem Is MICHAEL F. PATTON, JR. and SAMANTHA WEBB 245 Take the Ishihara Race Test: See if You Are Colorblind Like Stephen! JOHN JACOBSON and JEFFREY GAUTHIER 259 Citizens of the Colbert Nation 263 Factinista’s Choice 269 Colbert and Philosophy 4/5/09 7:46 PM Page ix Acknowledgments F irst and foremost, a big thank you to all the contributors. Your hard work and dedication made this book possible. And your love for the material made it fun and interesting. It was truly a pleasure to work with each and every one of you! Thanks to my editorial assistant, Dan Rosenberg, whose help is visible on every page. Thanks to the folks at Open Court—especially George A. Reisch, David Ramsay Steele, and Cindy Pineo—for their advice, support, and the chance. Thanks to the folks at the many wonderful Colbert fan sites, in particular No Fact Zone, for their detailed episode guide, Colbert University, for their interesting character studies, and Colbert Nation, for their lively forums. Thanks to my colleagues, friends, and family for their guidance, support, and encouragement. In particular: John Jacobson, Nina Brewer-Davis, Jeff Schiller, Debbie Schiller, and Larry Schiller. A special thanks to my adoring (and adored) wife, Denise Helene Brauer Schiller, for always being right beside me. And a big, American-sized thanks to Dr. Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A. On behalf of myself and the contributors, we hope you’ll consider this the Number One Philosophy Book on all things Colbert. ix