Arrested Development and Philosophy: Theyve Made a Huge Mistake

Is George Michael′s crush on his cousin unnatural?

Is it immoral for Lindsay to lie about stealing clothes tohide her job?

Is Gob better off living his life in bad faith?

What inferences can we draw from Tobias′sdouble–entendres?

Are the pictures really of bunkers or balls?

The Bluth family′s faults, foibles, and character flaws are soexcruciatingly familiar that we squirm in painful recognition ofthe outrageous impulses that we all have but would never act on.The Bluths seem utterly unaware of the gaping distance betweentheir behavior and accepted social norms. Lurking behind thiscraziness are large moral and philosophical issues to be explored.From Plato to Aristotle, from Descartes to Marx, ArrestedDevelopment and Philosophy draws from great philosophical mindsto shed new light on the show′s key questions and captivatingthemes, including the nature of self–knowledge and happiness,business ethics and capitalist alienation, social class, the roleof error in character development, and much more.

To learn more about the Blackwell Philosophy and PopCulture series, visit www.andphilosophy.com

INTRODUCTION 1
Kristopher Phillips

PART ONE FAMILY FIRST

1 Is the Examined Life a Huge Mistake?: Happiness,Self–Knowledge, and the Bluths 7
Jason Southworth and Ruth Tallman

2 Kissing Cousins: Incest, Naturalism, and the Yuck Factor23
Deborah R. Barnbaum

3 Freudian Arrested Development 33
Tim Jung

4 Don′t Know Thyself: Gob and the Wisdom of Bad Faith 46
Daniel P. Malloy

PART TWO A BUSINESS MODEL

5 Dr. Fünke′s 100 Percent Natural Good–Time AlienationSolution 61
Jeff Ewing

6 Family First: How Not to Run a Business 73
Brett Gaul

7 Bourgeois Bluths: Arrested Development and Class Status85
Rachel McKinney

PART THREE SOME HUGE MISTAKES

8 What Whitey Isn′t Ready to Hear: Social Identity inArrested Development 99
J. Jeremy Wisnewski

9 "I Just Blue Myself": The Use and Abuse of Language inArrested Development 111
M. E. Verrochi

10 To Bias Tobias: Gender Identity, Sexuality, and ArrestedDevelopment 123
Darci Doll

11 I′m Oscar.com: The Problem(s) of Personal Identity inArrested Development 136
Kristopher Phillips

PART FOUR THE ONE WHERE THEY DO EPISTEMOLOGY

12 You Can′t Do Magic: Gob Bluth and the Illusionists′ Craft151
Michael Cholbi

13 Is Justified True Bluth Belief Knowledge? 162
Brett Coppenger and Kristopher Phillips

14 Bunkers and Balls: Arrested Development,Underdetermination, and the Theory–ladenness of Observation172
Michael Da Silva

PART FIVE SOLID AS IRAQ: POLITICS AND ETHICS ARRESTED

15 No Touching! George Sr.′s Brush with Treason 185
Douglas Paletta and Paul Franco

16 "I′ve Made a Huge Mistake": George Oscar Bluth Jr. and theRole of Error in Character Development 197
Christopher C. Kirby, Jonathan Hillard, and MathewHolmes

17 The Comedy of Contradiction 210
Erin Fay and Willie Young

PARTS IX: AND ON THE EPILOGUE . . .

18 And Now the Story of a Wealthy Family Who Lost Everything:Arrested Development, Narrative, and How We Find Meaning227
Tyler Shores

CONTRIBUTORS: Banana Stand Employee Roster 241

INDEX: Banana Stand Inventory 247

J. JEREMY WISNEWSKI is an associate professor ofphilosophy at Hartwick College. He is the editor of Family Guyand Philosophy, The Office and Philosophy, and 30Rock and Philosophy, and coeditor of X–Men andPhilosophy and Twilight and Philosophy.

WILLIAM IRWIN is a professor of philosophy at King′sCollege. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre ofbooks as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophyand has overseen recent titles including House andPhilosophy, Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy, andMad Men and Philosophy.