Dr. Andrew Wood Office: HGH 210; Phone: (408) 924-5378 Email: wooda@email.sjsu.edu Web: http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/wooda

Reading: Barwick, D. (2001). The moral world of the Simpson family: A Kantian perspective. In W. Irwin, M.T. Conard, and A. Skoble's The Simpsons and philosophy: The d'oh of Homer. Chicago: Open Court.

Note: These comments are not designed to "summarize" the reading. Rather, they are available to highlight key ideas that will emerge in our classroom discussion. As always, it's best to read the original text to gain full value from the course.

In his chapter (pp. 147-159), James Lawler investigates the question, what is moral goodness? Invoking the writings of Immanuel Kant, Lawler replies that goodness comes from performing one's duty: doing what must be done even if that duty conflicts with one's personal desires. These contrasting motives emerge in The Simpsons' depictions of Ned (moral duty with no personal desire) and Moe (personal desire with no moral duty). On the other hand, Homer struggles mightily in quandaries great and small to balance the two. From a Kantian perspective, his struggle outweighs Ned's slavish devotion and Moe's craven depravity.

After offering other examples, most notably Marge's struggle to be a moral realtor, Lawler shifts to a second component of the Kantian perspective, that doing one's duty should reflect one's inner being; it should not be imposed from the outside, although it should be practiced consistently as if a reflection of universal law. Here, Lisa reflects such a self-directed morality as she defines her personal system of values as ways of living that would be best if adopted by all people. In this way, the struggle to be good returns. After all, in a world in which most people compromise, the desire to do one's duty as it would be practiced by all people invites the pain of ostracism. Happily, though, art and other forms of creative expression offer the dutiful soul ways to find beauty that mirrors her or his inner valiancy.

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