There's Now a College Philosophy Class Dedicated to the Wisdom of 'The Simpsons'

Like philosophy? Like 'The Simpsons' even more? This college class is for you.

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Image via Complex Original
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What better way to brush up on your philosophical prowess than with a college course all about the longest-running sitcom in America history? The Simpsons is the focus of a new course at the University of Glasgow dedicated to exploring all that Homer and Marge have in common with the likes of Aristotle, Albert Camus, and Karl Marx.

"Homer is a very complex character in many ways," philosophy tutor Dr. John Donaldson toldBBC Wednesday. "He's very gluttonous, he can be quite violent and self-interested. But at the same time he's a character that's hard not to like. He's very popular. He has a childlike joy of life, he's open to doing the right thing and he's a faithful family man."

The course, formally dubbed D'Oh!: The Simpsons Introduce Philosophy, will be offered in multiple six-hour sessions in January and February of next year. Judging by the official course description, this class is definitely worth the £30 (roughly $37 in American bucks) tuition:

The Simpsons is one of the modern world's greatest cultural artifacts partly because it is so full of philosophy. Aristotle, Kant, Marx, Camus, and many other great thinkers' ideas are represented in what is arguably the purest of philosophical forms: the comic cartoon. This day-school will explore some of philosophy’s most inspiring ideas as presented in Matt Groening's monument to the absurdities of human existence.

The Fox classic, recently renewed for a record-breaking 29th and 30th seasons, inspired some heated intellectual discourse last week when a presidential Lisa Simpson prediction from 2000 sadly came to pass. As Bart astutely summarized in the Simpsons' first post-election episode, "being right sucks."

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