Centerfield

The Sublime Truth of Cartoons

To speak truthfully and insightfully today you must have a sense of the absurdity of human life and endeavour. Past attempts to construct grand and noble theories about human history and destiny have collapsed.

We now know we're just a bunch of naked apes trying to get on as best we can, usually messing things up, but somehow finding life can be sweet all the same. All delusions of a significance that we do not really have need to be stripped away, and nothing can do this better that the great deflater: comedy.

According to philosopher Julian Bagini, Matt Groening is the true heir of Plato, Aristotle, and Kant.

Revealing simple truths about simplistic falsehoods is not just a minor philosophical task, like doing the washing up at Descartes' Diner while the real geniuses cook up the main courses.

For when it comes to the relevance of philosophy to real life, all the commitments we make on the big issues are determined by considerations which are ultimately quite straightforward.

How true. And I'm sure he'd say the same thing about South Park. Hat tip: Althouse Posted by PatHMV at May 19, 2006 04:18 PM