Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing 
asked by paradiselove on October 31, 2006 5:23 AM
Designed for philosophers as well as readers with no particular philosophical background, the essays in this lively book are grouped into four amusing acts. Act One looks at the four Seinfeld characters through a philosophical lens and includes Jerry and Socrates: The Examined Life? Act Two examines historical philosophers from a Seinfeldian standpoint and offers Plato or Nietzsche? Time, Essence, and Eternal Recurrence in Seinfeld. Act Three, Untimely Meditations by the Water Cooler, explores philosophical issues raised by the show, such as, Is it rational for George to do the opposite? And Act Four, Is There Anything Wrong with That?, discusses ethical problems of everyday life using Seinfeld as a basis. Seinfeld and Philosophy also provides a guide to Seinfeld episodes and a chronological list of the philosophers cited in this book.
Reviews
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but this is not saying mcuh because the rest are very bad. What each of these books needs are realy thoughtful thinkers who know philosophy, who i n this case know Seinfeld, and who have sense of humor to go with insights. Writers are dull, take themselves too seriously even when they have something okay to say.
reviewed by bigwinner on November 27, 2006 12:08 PM
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If you don't know much about Seinfeld or philosophy you might enjoy this book, but if you're a Seinfeld nut then avoid it at all costs. The show is incorrectly quoted several times and "facts" are also made up at times. The summarization of Socrates' allegory of the cave on page nine misstates some pretty major details. I suffered through the book until page 47 when the writer talks about how Kramer and Mickey embrace communism in the episode "The Race." Anyone who has seen that show even once knows that Mickey is trying to talk Kramer out of communism throughout the show. And even though Kramer definitely shows interest in communism it is quite a stretch to say is becomes an "ardent" communist. Rather than being an enjoyable read this book frustrated me enough that i quit on page 51. In all fairness the rest of the book may be excellent, but i'll probably never know.
reviewed by samoan on November 29, 2006 1:52 PM
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Yes, Seinfeld is always funny. Here's what he said about his comedic inspiration: "[Lois Nettleton] was married to Jean Shepherd. He's the guy who invented talk radio and really formed my entire comedic sensibility. Yes. I learned how to do comedy from Jean Shepherd." He said this in his commentary for "The Gymnast" episode on the sitcom's DVD set, sixth season. Who is Jean Shepherd? See the book EXCELSIOR, YOU FATHEAD! THE ART AND ENIGMA OF JEAN SHEPHERD.
reviewed by megafan on November 29, 2006 2:59 PM
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Amazingly bad book. As someone who loves Seinfeld and Philosophy, I found this book insulting for both, and espacially for the readers. I tried reading parts of it, and simply couldn't bring myself to finish any chapter. Just a bunch of jiberish from people who apperently don't like, know, or "get" Seinfeld very much.
The straw that got me to finally give up (and write this review) is when I read that Seinfeld was not the first to write a comedy about nothing, and that "Much ado about nothing" is also such a comedy. What, the writer just googled "about nothing" to find something which has a similar title ??? Discusting.
The straw that got me to finally give up (and write this review) is when I read that Seinfeld was not the first to write a comedy about nothing, and that "Much ado about nothing" is also such a comedy. What, the writer just googled "about nothing" to find something which has a similar title ??? Discusting.
reviewed by ozone on November 29, 2006 6:07 PM