Saturday Night Live and Philosophy: Deep Thoughts Through the Decades, Paperback

This hilarious cast of star philosophers will make you laugh while you think as they explore the moral conundrums, ridiculous paradoxes, and wild implications of Saturday Night Live

Comedian-philosophers from Socrates to Sartre have always prodded and provoked us, critiquing our most sacred institutions and urging us to examine ourselves in the process. In Saturday Night Live and Philosophy, a star-studded cast of philosophers takes a close look at the "deep thoughts" beneath the surface of NBC's award-winning late-night variety show and its hosts' zany antics. In this book, philosophy and comedy join forces, just like the Ambiguously Gay Duo, to explore the meaning of life itself through the riffs and beats of the subversive parody that gives the show its razor-sharp wit and undeniable cultural and political significance. Our guest hosts raise some eyebrows with questions like:

• Is Weekend Update Fake News?
• Does SNL upset dominant paradigms or trap us in political bubbles?
• When it comes to SNL, how can we tell the difference between satire, smart-assery, and seriousness?
• Is the Ladies Man too stupid for moral responsibility?
• What is the benefit of jokes that cause outrage?
• The Church Lady has a bad case of moral superiority. How about you?
• What can Wayne and Garth teach us about living a happy life?

JASON SOUTHWORTH is a philosophy instructor at several colleges and universities. His research focuses on the philosophy of language and applied ethics. He has been a regular contributor to the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series.

RUTH TALLMAN teaches philosophy and serves as department chair at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, FL. She spends her summers as a seminar leader at the Sherwin B. Nuland Summer Institute in Bioethics at Yale University. She works in applied ethics, with a particular focus on biomedical ethics. Lately, her research has centered on ethical issues regarding physician-patient relationships.

To learn more about the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, visit www.andphilosophy.com