Table of Contents
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) Edited by Richard Hanley
VOLUME 28The Grateful Dead and Philosophy: Getting High Minded about Love and Haight (2007) Edited by Steven Gimbel
VOLUME 30Pink Floyd and Philosophy: Careful with that Axiom, Eugene! (2007) Edited by George A. Reisch
VOLUME 32Bruce Springsteen and Philosophy: Darkness on the Edge of Truth (2008) Edited by Randall E. Auxier and Doug Anderson
VOLUME 33Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up? (2008) Edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin
VOLUME 34iPod and Philosophy: iCon of an ePoch (2008) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
VOLUME 35Star Trek and Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant (2008) Edited by Jason T. Eberl and Kevin S. Decker
VOLUME 36The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy: I Link Therefore I Am (2008) Edited by Luke Cuddy
VOLUME 37The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West (2008) Edited by Randall E. Auxier and Phillip S. Seng
VOLUME 38Radiohead and Philosophy: Fitter Happier More Deductive (2009) Edited by Brandon W. Forbes and George A. Reisch
VOLUME 39Jimmy Buffett and Philosophy: The Porpoise Driven Life (2009) Edited by Erin McKenna and Scott L. Pratt
VOLUME 40Transformers and Philosophy (2009) Edited by John 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 (2010) Edited by Michael Macomber
VOLUME 49Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy: New Life for the Undead (2010) Edited by Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad
VOLUME 50Facebook and Philosophy: Whats on Your Mind? (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
VOLUME 51Soccer and Philosophy: Beautiful Thoughts on the Beautiful Game (2010) Edited by Ted Richards
VOLUME 52Manga and Philosophy: Fullmetal Metaphysician (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Adam Barkman
VOLUME 53Martial Arts and Philosophy: Beating and Nothingness (2010) Edited by Graham Priest and Damon Young
VOLUME 54The Onion and Philosophy: Fake News Story True, Alleges Indignant Area Professor (2010) Edited by Sharon M. Kaye
VOLUME 55Doctor Who and Philosophy: Bigger on the Inside (2010) Edited by Courtland Lewis and Paula Smithka
VOLUME 56Dune and Philosophy: Weirding Way of the Mentat (2011) Edited by Jeffery Nicholas
VOLUME 57Rush and Philosophy: Heart and Mind United (2011) Edited by Jim Berti and Durrell Bowman
VOLUME 58Dexter and Philosophy: Mind over Spatter (2011) Edited by Richard Greene, George A. Reisch, and Rachel Robison-Greene
VOLUME 59Halo and Philosophy: Intellect Evolved (2011) Edited by Luke Cuddy
VOLUME 60SpongeBob SquarePants and Philosophy: Soaking Up Secrets Under the Sea! (2011) Edited by Joseph Foy
VOLUME 61Sherlock Holmes and Philosophy: The Footprints of a Gigantic Mind (2011) Edited by Josef Steiff
VOLUME 62Inception and Philosophy: Ideas to Die For (2011) Edited by Thorsten Botz-Bornstein
VOLUME 63Philip K. Dick and Philosophy: Do Androids Have Kindred Spirits? (2011) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
VOLUME 64The Rolling Stones and Philosophy: Its Just a Thought Away (2012) Edited by Luke Dick and George A. Reisch
IN PREPARATION:
Breaking Bad and Philosophy (2012) Edited by David R. Koepsell and Robert Arp
Curb Your Enthusiasm and Philosophy (2012) Edited by Mark Ralkowski
Chuck Klosterman and Philosophy (2012) Edited by Seth Vannatta
Neil Gaiman and Philosophy (2012) Edited by Tracy L. Bealer, Rachel Luria, and Wayne Yuen
The Walking Dead and Philosophy (2012) Edited by Wayne Yuen
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy (2012) Edited by Sara Livingston
Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy (2012) Edited by Jon Cogburn and Mark Silcox
For full details of all Popular Culture and Philosophy books, visit www.opencourtbooks.com.
Whos Putting Ideas in Your Head?
Two and a half thousand years ago Plato asked: How exactly can we explain our perceptions of reality? The top has been spinning ever since.
Dreams are the original virtual reality. For thousands of years dreams have been ransacked for hidden memories, messages, desires, fears, and secrets.
Dreams are generally weird and sometimes seem absurd, but they dont usually feel weird when were in them. When we wake up from a dream, were surprised to find that in the dream we accepted as real many things we now automatically reject as preposterous. But maybe were now accepting other things we would find equally preposterous if we could wake up from what we call waking life.
Dreams are often tremendously intricate and detailed. If the world of the dream isnt real, who made it up? We know that we most certainly didnt. So where does this world come from? Although strange things can happen in a dream, not anything can happen. We have only limited control over what goes on in our dreams. They have strict laws of their own. Dreams possess a deadly, implacable logic, which may sometimes frustrate or terrify us.
