How I Met Your Mother and Philosophy: Being and Awesomeness (Popular Culture and Philosophy Book 81)

Like philosophy itself, How I Met Your Mother has everyone thinking. How does a successful show that's been on the air for years suddenly become a hit in its fifth and sixth season? Have you ever wondered why you identify so strongly with Barney despite the fact that he’s such a douche? Or why your life story doesn’t make sense until you know the ending—or at least, the middle? Or where the Bro Code came from and why it’s so powerful? Or why you’d sooner miss the hottest date in your life than have to live in New Jersey? Of course you have, or if you haven’t, you’ll clearly remember from now on that you have. How I Met Your Mother and Philosophy answers all these questions and a whole lot more, including one or two that even you may not have thought of. Twenty of the awesome-est philosophers ever congregated in one bar have come together to quaff a few drinks—and to analyze this most awesomely philosophical of sit-coms. They poke, prod, and sniff at such momentous matters as the metaphysics of possimpible worlds, the misdeeds of Goliath National Bank, the ontology of waiting to get slapped, the epistemology of sexual attraction, why the Platinum Rule is to never love thy neighbor, the authenticity of censoring yourself, the ethics of doing bad things with partly good intentions, why future Ted’s opinions matter to present-day Ted, whether it’s irrational to wait for the Slutty Pumpkin, and why Canadians have that strange Canadian slant on things. This book shows that viewers of How I Met Your Mother and Philosophy know that philosophy is much more than a song and dance routine. "Like philosophy itself, How I Met Your Mother has everyone thinking. How does a successful show that's been on the air for years suddenly become a hit in its fifth and sixth season? Have you ever wondered why you identify so strongly with Barney despite the fact that he's such a douche? Or why your life story doesn't make sense until you know the ending, or at least, the middle? Or where the Bro Code came from and why it's so powerful? Or why you'd sooner miss the hottest date in your life than have to live in New Jersey? Of course you have, or if you haven't, you'll clearly remember from now on that you have. How I Met Your Mother and Philosophy answers all these questions and a whole lot more, including one or two that even you may not have thought of. Twenty of the awesome-est philosophers ever congregated in one bar have come together to quaff a few drinks and to analyze this most awesomely philosophical of sit-coms. They poke, prod, and sniff at such momentous matters as the metaphysics of possimpible worlds, the misdeeds of Goliath National Bank, the ontology of waiting to get slapped, the epistemology of sexual attraction, why the Platinum Rule is to never love thy neighbor, the authenticity of censoring yourself, the ethics of doing bad things with partly good intentions, why future Ted's opinions matter to present-day Ted, whether it's irrational to wait for the Slutty Pumpkin, and why Canadians have that strange Canadian slant on things. This book shows that viewers of How I Met Your Mother and Philosophy know that philosophy is much more than a song and dance routine"--Provided by publisher Contents I. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED 1. Why on Earth Do We Love Barney? 2. You Too Can Awesomize Yourself 3. Me! Me! Me! 4. The Most Amazing, Strong, Independent Woman Barney Has Ever Banged 5. Barney's Magical World of Self-Deception II. TRUE STORY! 6. The Bro Code as a Relational Starter 7. Ted's Cockamouse Flies at Dusk 8. Smoking Subs and Eating Joints 9. Telling Each Other Everything III. WAIT FOR IT. . . 10. Why You Should Never, Never Love Thy Neighbor 11. A Tale of Two Feminist Icons 12. The Legend. . . wait-for-it. . . dary Moment 13. Is It Irrational to Wait for the Slutty Pumpkin? IV. HOT AND CRAZY 14. Barney Stinson's Theory of Truth 15. The Pick-Up Game 16. Telling Your Life Story 17. Awesome Logic for the Possimpible World About the Authors Index