Psych and Philosophy: Some Dark Juju-Magumbo (Popular Culture and Philosophy Book 75)

“I'm getting something," says Shawn, assuming a look of intense concentration and pressing his fingertips to the sides of his head. Shawn Spencer uses lies, pretense, and distraction to get at the truth. But can pseudoscience and fakery really be so helpful? And if they can be, is it ethical to employ them? Psych and Philosophy takes an entertaining tour through the philosophical issues raised by a fake psychic. Can faulty logic get to the truth quicker than good logic? Are other people to blame for Shawn's deceptions, because they're more ready to credit him with supernatural powers than with superior natural powers? Is instinct more important than smart thinking—in police work and in life? Is it ethical to tell lies to promote the truth (and protect the public from criminals)? Almost every episode of Psych revolves around a grisly death, treated humorously by the repartee between Shawn and Gus. The show has much to tell us about human ways of coping with death, as well as about the problem of justified knowledge, the ethics of law enforcement, and the interaction of love, friendship, loyalty, and professionalism. Contents This Is the Introduction. . . But I Knew that You Knew That Already I. IN BETWEEN THE LINES 1. I've Heard It Both Ways | NIcholas Michaud 2. What's the Story? | Michael J. Muniz 3. Why Physics Beats Science | Cynthia Jones II. QUITE THE TALENT YOU HAVE THERE 4. Thin-Slicing through All the Baloney | Daniel Yim 5. Cocky Confidence Versus Careful Conviction | Graham D. Senor and Thomas D. Senor 6. Should the Police Hire a Psychic Detective? | Laura Guidry-Grimes III. THUS SPOKE SHAWN SPENCER 7. The Three Metamorphoses of Shawn | Daniel P. Malloy 8. The Overman Is Available for Hugs | Roberto Ruiz IV. PSYCH YOU OUT IN THE END 9. Psychic or Psycho? | Benjamin McCraw 10. The Bigger the Lie, the More People Will Believe It | James Edwin Mahon and Cristina Ceballos 11. Do You Remember that You Don't Remember? | Skyler King V. EMBRACE THE DECEPTION 12. Lying for Justice | James Rocha 13. Shawn's Hocus Pocus Hokum | Jeffrey E. Stephenson 14. I Know You Know that I'm Not Telling the Truth | Gregory L. Bock and Jeffrey L. Bock VI. I KNOW YOU KNOW 15. Duped into the Truth | Ronda Bowen 16. Shawn the Perfect Pragmatist | Amanda K. Lusky 17. A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of That, and a Whole Lotta Knowledge | Courtland Lewis VII. SOME DARK JUJU-MAGUMBO 18. The Fool Who Fools Fools | Dena Hurst 19. Too Good to Be True | Courtney Neal 20. Exploiting the Supernatural | Jeff Ewing VIII. LEARN HOW TO BEND 21. From a Death to a Blooper | John M. Thompson 22. What Friends Are For | Patricia Brace 23. Shawn Reborn | C. Scott Sevier 24. The Amazing Psych-Man Versus the Sexist Mentalist | Mona Rocha Psycho Psychics The (I Know You) Know-It Alls Index