Chuck Klosterman
and Philosophy
Popular Culture and Philosophy
Chuck Klosterman
and Philosophy
The Real and the Cereal
Edited by
SETH VANNATTA
OPEN COURT
Chicago and LaSalle, Illinois
Volume 65 in the series, Popular Culture and Philosophy, edited by George A. Reisch
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Copyright 2012 by Carus Publishing Company
First printing 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Open Court Publishing Company, a division of Carus Publishing Company, 70 East Lake Street, Suite 300, Chicago, Illinois 60601.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chuck Klosterman and philosophy : the real and the cereal / edited by Seth Vannatta.
p. cm. (Popular culture and philosophy ; v. 65)
Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index.
ISBN 978-0-8126-9788-9
1. Klosterman, Chuck, 1972-Philosophy. 2. Klosterman, Chuck, 1972-Criticism and interpretation. 3. Popular culturePhilosophy. 4. CulturePhilosophy. I. Vannatta, Seth, 1973-
CB19.C474 2012
781.66dc23
2012000622
Contents
SETH VANNATTA
RANDALL E. AUXIER
SETH VANNATTA
GEORGE A. REISCH
BRUNO URKO AND IVANA GREGURIC
SETH VANNATTA
CRAIG ROOD
MATT SIENKIEWICZ
CHAD FLANDERS
JOHN BRITTINGHAM
MELISSA VOSEN
SYBIL PRIEBE
MATT SIENKIEWICZ
BENJAMIN D. LISLE
KEVIN BROOKS
GEORGE A. REISCH
LUKE DICK
JOHN R. FITZPATRICK
DANIEL MISTICH AND RYAN P. MCCULLOUGH
MELISSA VOSEN
SETH VANNATTA
SYBIL PRIEBE
JOHN R. FITZPATRICK
CHUCK KLOSTERMAN
Popular Culture and Philosophy Series Editor: George A. Reisch
VOLUME 1Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing (2000)
VOLUME 2The Simpsons and Philosophy: The Doh! of Homer (2001)
VOLUME 3The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002)
VOLUME 4Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale (2003)
VOLUME 5The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (2003)
VOLUME 9Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts (2004)
VOLUME 12Star Wars and Philosophy: More Powerful than You Can Possibly Imagine (2005)
VOLUME 13Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way (2005)
VOLUME 17Bob Dylan and Philosophy: Its Alright Ma (Im Only Thinking) (2006)
VOLUME 19Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge Nudge, Think Think! (2006)
VOLUME 24Bullshit and Philosophy: Guaranteed to Get Perfect Results Every Time (2006)
VOLUME 25The Beatles and Philosophy: Nothing You Can Think that Cant Be Thunk (2006)
VOLUME 26South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating (2007)
VOLUME 28The Grateful Dead and Philosophy: Getting High Minded about Love and Haight (2007)
VOLUME 29Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy: How to Philosophize with a Pair of Pliers and a Blowtorch (2007)
VOLUME 30Pink Floyd and Philosophy: Careful with that Axiom, Eugene! (2007)
VOLUME 31Johnny Cash and Philosophy: The Burning Ring of Truth (2008)
VOLUME 32Bruce Springsteen and Philosophy: Darkness on the Edge of Truth (2008)
VOLUME 33Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up? (2008)
VOLUME 34iPod and Philosophy: iCon of an ePoch (2008)
VOLUME 35Star Trek and Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant (2008)
VOLUME 36The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy: I Link Therefore I Am (2008)
VOLUME 37The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West (2008)
VOLUME 38Radiohead and Philosophy: Fitter Happier More Deductive (2009)
VOLUME 39Jimmy Buffett and Philosophy: The Porpoise Driven Life (2009) Edited by Erin McKenna and Scott L. Pratt
VOLUME 40Transformers and Philosophy: More than Meets the Mind (2009) Edited by John R. Shook and Liz Stillwaggon Swan
VOLUME 41Stephen Colbert and Philosophy: I Am Philosophy (And So Can You!) (2009) Edited by Aaron Allen Schiller
VOLUME 42Supervillains and Philosophy: Sometimes, Evil Is Its Own Reward (2009) Edited by Ben Dyer
VOLUME 43The Golden Compass and Philosophy: God Bites the Dust (2009) Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison
VOLUME 44Led Zeppelin and Philosophy: All Will Be Revealed (2009) Edited by Scott Calef
VOLUME 45World of Warcraft and Philosophy: Wrath of the Philosopher King (2009) Edited by Luke Cuddy and John Nordlinger
Volume 46Mr. Monk and Philosophy: The Curious Case of the Defective Detective (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
Volume 47Anime and Philosophy: Wide Eyed Wonder (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin
VOLUME 48The Red Sox and Philosophy: Green Monster Meditations