VOLUME EDITOR SCOTT C. LOWE is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. His current interest is in the political philosophy of Richard Rorty. He is the editor, along with Steven Hales, of Delight in Thinking: An Introduction to Philosophy Reader (2006). SERIES EDITOR FRITZ ALLHOFF is an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Western Michigan University, as well as a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian National University’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. In addition to editing the Philosophy for Everyone series, Allhoff is the volume editor or co-editor for several titles, including Wine & Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Whiskey & Philosophy (with Marcus P. Adams, Wiley, 2009), and Food & Philosophy (with Dave Monroe, Wiley-Blackwell, 2007). PHILOSOPHY FOR EVERYONE Series editor: Fritz Allhoff Not so much a subject matter, philosophy is a way of thinking. Thinking not just about the Big Questions, but about little ones too. This series invites everyone to ponder things they care about, big or small, significant, serious … or just curious. Running & Philosophy: Cannabis – Philosophy for Everyone: A Marathon for the Mind What Were We Just Talking About? Edited by Michael W. Austin Edited by Dale Jacquette Wine & Philosophy: Porn – Philosophy for Everyone: A Symposium on Thinking and Drinking How to Think With Kink Edited by Fritz Allhoff Edited by Dave Monroe Food & Philosophy: Serial Killers – Philosophy for Eat, Think and Be Merry Everyone: Being and Killing Edited by Fritz Allhoff and Dave Monroe Edited by S. Waller Beer & Philosophy: Dating – Philosophy for Everyone: The Unexamined Beer Isn’t Worth Flirting With Big Ideas Drinking Edited by Kristie Miller and Marlene Clark Edited by Steven D. Hales Gardening – Philosophy for Everyone: Whiskey & Philosophy: Cultivating Wisdom A Small Batch of Spirited Ideas Edited by Dan O’Brien Edited by Fritz Allhoff and Marcus P. Adams Motherhood – Philosophy for College Sex – Philosophy for Everyone: The Birth of Wisdom Everyone: Philosophers With Benefits Edited by Sheila Lintott Edited by Michael Bruce Fatherhood – Philosophy for and Robert M. Stewart Everyone: The Dao of Daddy Cycling – Philosophy for Everyone: Edited by Lon S. Nease A Philosophical Tour de Force and Michael W. Austin Edited by Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza and Michael W. Austin Forthcoming books in the series: Climbing – Philosophy for Everyone: Fashion – Philosophy for Everyone Because It’s There Edited by Jessica Wolfendale Edited by Stephen E. Schmid and Jeanette Kennett Hunting – Philosophy for Everyone: Coffee – Philosophy for Everyone In Search of the Wild Life Edited by Scott Parker Edited by Nathan Kowalsky and Michael W. Austin Christmas – Philosophy for Everyone: Blues – Philosophy for Everyone Better Than a Lump of Coal Edited by Abrol Fairweather Edited by Scott C. Lowe and Jesse Steinberg 99778811444444333300990088__11__pprreettoocc..iinndddd iiii 55//1100//22001100 55::4411::0099 PPMM Edited by Scott C. Lowe CHRISTMAS PHILOSOPHY FOR EVERYONE Better Than a Lump of Coal Foreword by Stephen Nissenbaum A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication 99778811444444333300990088__11__pprreettoocc..iinndddd iiiiii 55//1100//22001100 55::4411::0099 PPMM This edition first published 2010 © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd except for editorial material and organization © 2010 Scott C. Lowe Blackwell Publishing was acquired by John Wiley & Sons in February 2007. Blackwell’s publishing program has been merged with Wiley’s global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business to form Wiley-Blackwell. Registered Office John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, United Kingdom 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 Scott C. Lowe to be identified as the author of the editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. 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, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trade- marks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a com- petent professional should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Christmas – philosophy for everyone: better than a lump of coal / edited by Scott C. Lowe. p. cm.—(Philosophy for everyone) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-4443-3090-8 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Christmas. I. Lowe, Scott C. II. Title: Christmas – philosophy for everyone. BV45.C548 2010 263′.915—dc22 2010006824 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Set in 10/12.5pt Plantin by SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India Printed in Singapore 01 2010 99778811444444333300990088__11__pprreettoocc..iinndddd iivv 55//1100//22001100 55::4411::0099 PPMM To John Hirschi “… it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well …” 99778811444444333300990088__11__pprreettoocc..iinndddd vv 55//1100//22001100 55::4411::0099 PPMM CONTENTS Foreword: Joining the Manger to the Sleigh? x Stephen Nissenbaum Introduction 1 Scott C. Lowe PART I CHRISTMAS: In the Beginning 9 1 Jesus, Mary, and Hume: On the Possibility of the Virgin Birth 11 Zachary Jurgensen and Jason Southworth 2 The Virgin Birth: Authentic Christmas Magic 24 Victor Lyons 3 Putting the “Yule” Back in “Yuletide” 36 Todd Preston PART II IS CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS REALLY A GOOD IDEA? 47 4 Armed for the War on Christmas 49 Scott F. Aiken 5 Christmas Mythologies: Sacred and Secular 59 Guy Bennett-Hunter 6 The Significance of Christmas for Liberal Multiculturalism 70 Mark Mercer ffttoocc..iinndddd vviiii 55//77//22001100 11::3388::1111 PPMM 7 Crummy Commercials and BB Guns: Son-of-a-Bitch Consumerism in a Christmas Classic 80 Erin Haire and Dustin Nelson PART III SANTA: A Deeper Look 91 8 The Mind of Santa Claus and the Metaphors He Lives By 93 William E. Deal and S. Waller 9 Making a List, Checking It Twice: The Santa Claus Surveillance System 104 Richard Hancuff and Noreen O’Connor 10 You’d Better Watch Out … 114 Will Williams 11 Santa’s Sweatshop: Elf Exploitation for Christmas 125 Matthew Brophy PART IV THE MORALITY OF CHRISTMAS 137 12 Against the Santa Claus Lie: The Truth We Should Tell Our Children 139 David Kyle Johnson 13 Lying to Children about Santa: Why It’s Just Not Wrong 151 Era Gavrielides 14 Putting Claus Back into Christmas 161 Steven D. Hales 15 Scrooge Learns it All in One Night: Happiness and the Virtues of Christmas 172 Dane Scott PART V CHRISTMAS THROUGH OTHERS’ EYES 183 16 Holly Jolly Atheists: A Naturalistic Justification for Christmas 185 Ruth Tallman 17 Heaven, Hecate, and Hallmark: Christmas in Hindsight 197 Marion G. Mason 18 Festivus and the Need for Seasonal Absurdity 208 Caleb Holt viii CONTENTS ffttoocc..iinndddd vviiiiii 55//77//22001100 11::3388::1111 PPMM 19 Common Claus: Santa as Cross-Cultural Connection 219 Cindy Scheopner Afterword 231 Santa Claus Notes on Contributors: Santa’s Elves 234 CONTENTS ix ffttoocc..iinndddd iixx 55//77//22001100 11::3388::1111 PPMM STEPHEN NISSENBAUM FOREWORD Joining the Manger to the Sleigh? Here’s a philosophical exercise of sorts. Imagine, first, the manger scene, set in Bethlehem. You will of course visualize the newborn infant Jesus, the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph, and perhaps several shepherds, angels and animals; possibly also the three wise men. All right, now place into that same scene, just in front of the holy infant, the kneeling figure of … Santa Claus. Something wrong with this picture? Does Santa not quite belong in this scene? And why not? If you find this exercise puzzling, then you have entered into a Christmas problem that may be deemed philosophical. The nineteenth-century American poet Emily Dickinson once recalled that as a child in the 1830s she secretly “loved Santa Claus” more than “the Lord Jesus Christ.” And in that preference (though perhaps not in the acknowledgment of it) Emily Dickinson was – and remains – far from alone. In their hearts, many people today probably love Santa Claus more than Jesus Christ. As certain Christians point out, the mere reversal of two letters turns Santa into Satan. The contest between Santa and Jesus is not the only philosophical dis- pute that Christmas has ignited over the years. In the seventeenth century the Puritans actually banned the celebration of Christmas (it was illegal for a time both in Oliver Cromwell’s England and in the colony of Massachusetts). In Puritan eyes, Christmas was a pagan holiday, not a Christian one. They argued, quite accurately, that there is no scriptural basis for celebrating the birth of Jesus; indeed, there is no evidence at all that he was born in December. (The nativity scene so vividly described in the Gospel of Luke – the shepherds abiding in their fields, keeping watch over ffllaasstt..iinndddd xx 55//77//22001100 11::3388::0033 PPMM their flocks by night, when an angel appeared to announce the birth “this day, in the city of David” of Christ the Lord – offers no clue about when “this day” happened to fall.) The Puritans were fond of saying that that if God had intended for the birthday of his only begotten son to be observed, he would surely have provided some indication of when it occurred. Actually, that dispute leads back to an earlier one, the very dispute that provoked the Church Fathers to decree the celebration of Christmas in the first place. This decree was levied as late as the year 395 CE, fully 400 years after Jesus’ birth. Why only then, and not before? The answer has to do with a certain philosophical idea that was winning many adherents in the fourth century; this was the idea that Jesus had never been a physical being at all, that he was instead a pure spirit who had only appeared to take on human form. (At the risk of committing sacrilege, you might imagine a parallel question about the identity of Santa Claus.) In the fourth century, when the nature of Christian “orthodoxy” was still being hotly debated, such an idea posed a real philosophical threat: it chal- lenged the reality of Christ’s incarnation, even of his crucifixion. In order to suppress that dangerous idea (it was called Docetism, after the Greek word meaning “to seem”), the Church Fathers realized that nothing would make Jesus more physically human than having a birthday. Of course, by that time nobody had any memory of when Jesus was born, so a date had to be devised. And it had to be a date that Christians would be likely to celebrate. It was for this reason that the Church Fathers settled on late December, for this was a time of general celebration that long preceded Christianity. Late December was the winter solstice (thus the ritual of seasonal lights, practiced by Jews at Chanukah). Late December was also a season of extended leisure time and culinary bounty (the harvest work was finally completed, and there was plenty of fresh food and alcohol to be consumed). In Rome itself, at the center of Christianity, these very days of late December had traditionally been cel- ebrated as the boisterous Saturnalia. So the Church Fathers in the year 395 CE chose to place the nativity of Jesus on December 25. But doing so involved a serious trade-off: on the one hand, the Church Fathers could be confident that the new holiday would be widely celebrated (and that Christians would come to accept the idea that Jesus was a real human being). On the other hand, it would be difficult to insure that the new holiday would be celebrated in a spirit of pious Christian devotion. There were simply too many powerful associations of this particular date, asso- ciations that had more to do with eating, drinking and being merry than with praying. FOREWORD xi ffllaasstt..iinndddd xxii 55//77//22001100 11::3388::0033 PPMM