Thoughts While Browsing the Philosophy Aisle

NOTE:  This article was written Jason Denham, who was part of the writing team for my old book blog, Monkey Reads a Book.

This is not a review of any of the books mentioned (some don't even exist, that I know of), just a post to distract from the fact that I haven't reviewed anything for quite some time.

So I was killing some time at a Borders the other day, and I happened to be in the Philosophy section. I noticed there are now two categories of philosophy book that are now widely available, taking up lots of space on the shelves, which were probably unheard of a few years ago.

The first is the comic book format introduction to a particular philosopher or set of ideas. There are at least two distinct series of these (probably more), and on the whole I love them, because they quickly and clearly present an overview of very complex people and ideas. I can generally read one in a sitting or two, and it's a great way to decide if I want to pursue that particular vein of reading any further. Alas, I only wish I had read my Introducing Foucault before I attempted The Order of Things.

The second type is the pop-culture crossover. These generally have titles like [Insert movie or TV series] and Philosophy. I freely admit I've never read any of these, but I find them somehow distasteful anyway. OK, I thought it was kind of cute at first, when they did one for Buffy or the Simpsons. But now there are literally feet of these books taking up valuable space in a section of the bookstore that is already getting squeezed in most places. The Family Guy and Philosophy? Really? What's next, According to Jim and Heidegger? Where is all this going, and do we really need it? I suspect the target audience for these books is die-hard fans of whatever movie or show it's based on, who somehow get to feel more justified that reciting Agent Mulder's lines from the X-Files is, in fact, a serious and worthwhile pursuit.

So, am I a snob for liking (A) and instinctively disliking (B) without even tasting? What is the source of this dichotomy? I think that the "graphic philosophical texts" can actually serve the purpose of introducing someone to philosophy in a way that might just stir them to go deeper (even though I don't always, and that's fine too). While the pop culture spin-offs strike me as purely a commercial venture meant to capitalize on the success of other media products, and unlikely to lead to genuine interest in philosophy on the part of its readers. Maybe I'm wrong, but there you have it.