Philosophy 248
Popular Culture and Philosophy

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PHI 101
Introduction to Philosophy
A World-Historical Perspective

PHI 199
Morality, Reality, and the Meaning of Life

PHI 248
Philosophy and Popular Culture

PHI 280
19th Century Philosophy: Kant to Nietzsche

PHI 388
20th Century Philosophy: Analytic v. Continental

Important Course Information to Download

Course Description

Course Requirements

Hegel and Avatar

Final Exam Questions

 

Syllabus

1) Weeks 1, 2, 3: Between Duty and Desire: Morality in The Simpsons

Lecture 1: Morality in Homer, Bart, and Marge

Lecture 2: Willing the Maxim as a Universal Law

Lecture 3: Lisa Learns Tolerance

2) Weeks 3, 4, 5: From Illusion to Reality: The Matrix of the Good Society

Lecture 4: The Matrix: There's Something Wrong with the World

Lecture 5: The Matrix: What is Reality?

Lecture 6: The Matrix: Realizing the Moral Ideal of the Highest Good

3) Week 6, 7: The Multidimensional Universe of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Lecture 7: Multidimensional Universe of Buffy (1)

Lecture 8: Multidimensional Universe of Buffy (2)

4) Weeks 8, 9: Blinding the Eyes of Justice: Woody Allen's Tale of Crime and Punishment

Lecture 9: Blinding the Eyes of Justice

5) Weeks 11, 12: Realizing the Highest Good: The Power of Love in the Matrix Trilogy

Lecture 10: Realizing the Highest Good

Weeks 13, 14 Hegel's Philosophy of Nature and the Avatar of Spirit

Hegel and Avatar

 

Future reading

6) Dialectics of the Force in Star Wars

Lecture 11: Dialectics of the Force

7) Turning to the Dark Side: The Problem of Evil in Plato, Kant, Hegel, and Darth Vader

Lecture 12: The Problem of Evil

8) Faith with Reason: Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ

Lecture 13: Faith with Reason

9) Hegel's Philosophy of Nature and Avatar

Lecture 14: Science and Nature

10) The Real Secret of The Da Vinci Code

Lecture 15: Real Secret of The Da Vinci Code

11) : The Platonic Wisdom of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene

Lecture 16: The Platonic Wisdom of the Gospel of Mary Magdalene