Robert Arp is an analyst working with the U.S. Government. He has done data modeling work as an ontologist, and has taught philosophy courses at colleges and universities, too. His interests include philosophy of biology, ontology in the information science sense, and philosophy and pop culture. Kevin S. Decker teaches philosophy at Eastern Washington University, where he is also an Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Letters and Education. His research interests are American pragmatism, Continental philosophy, ethics, philosophy and pop culture, and social theory. William Irwin is Professor of Philosophy at King's College. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles including Superman and Philosophy , Black Sabbath and Philosophy, and Spider-Man and Philosophy .

Introduction: "Well, I'm Afraid It's About to Happen Again" 1 Robert Arp and Kevin S. Decker Part I Doing Philosophical Things with South Park 5 1 Flatulence and Philosophy: A Lot of Hot Air, or the Corruption of Youth? 7 Willie Young 2 You Know, I Learned Something Today: Stan Marsh and the Ethics of Belief 19 Henry Jacoby 3 "Imaginationland," Terrorism, and the Difference Between Real and Imaginary 29 Christopher C. Kirby 4 Dude, Listen to Reason! Logic Lessons Inside and Outside South Park 41 Robert Arp Part II South Park and ... Religion 53 5 Science, Religion, South Park, and God 55 David Kyle Johnson 6 "Your Magic Is No Match for Our Powers Combined!"--Religious Pluralism and the Search for Truth 71 Jeffrey Dueck 7 Cartmanland and the Problem of Evil 83 David Kyle Johnson Part III South Park versus ... Religion 95 8 "Respect My Religiositah!"--South Park and Blasphemy 97 David Koepsell 9 Mary's Menses and Morality: Blasphemy in South Park 108 Kevin J. Murtagh 10 South Park, The Book of Mormon, and How Religious Fundamentalists Always Find a Way to Be Naive and Arrogant at the Same Time 119 Roberto Sirvent and Neil Baker Part IV Respecting My Authoritah! in South Park 131 11 Juvenile Hijinks With Serious Subtext: Dissent and Democracy in South Park 133 David Valleau Curtis and Gerald J. Erion 12 Of Marx and Mantequilla: Labor and Immigration in "The Last of the Meheecans" 143 Jeffrey Ewing 13 "Vote or Die, Bitch"--Does Every Vote Count in a Two-Party System? 153 John Scott Gray 14 Socioeconomic Darwinism from a South Park Perspective 164 Dale Jacquette Part V Liber-arianism in South Park 175 15 Cartman Shrugged: South Park and Libertarian Philosophy 177 Paul A. Cantor 16 Sitting Downtown at Kentucky Fried Chicken: One Toke Over the Line 194 Kevin S. Decker 17 Cat Urine, Medicinal Fried Chicken, and Smoking: South Park's Anti-Paternalistic Libertarianism 208 Shane D. Courtland Part VI There's a Time and a Place for Everything, Children 221 18 You (Still) Can't Get Married, You're Faggots: Mrs. Garrison and the Gay Marriage Debate 223 Jacob M. Held 19 Cute and Cuddly Animals versus Yummy Animals 236 Cynthia Jones 20 Aesthetic Value, Ethos, and Phil Collins: The Power of Music in South Park 247 Per F. Broman Contributors 260 Index 265