I Watch, Therefore I Am: From Socrates to Sartre, the Great Mysteries of Life as Explained Through Howdy Doody, Marcia Brady, Homer Simpson, Don Draper, and other TV Icons [Paperback]

Gregory Bergman (Author), Peter Archer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 18, 2011

Let Gilligan's Island teach you about situational ethics.
Learn about epistemology from The Brady Bunch.
Explore Aristotle's Poetics by watching 24.

Television has grappled with a wide range of philosophical conundrums. According to the networks, it's the ultimate source of all knowledge in the universe! So why not look to the small screen for answers to all of humanity's dilemmas?

There's not a single issue discussed by the great thinkers of the past that hasn't been hashed out between commercials in shows like Mad Men and Leave It to Beaver. So fix yourself a snack, settle into the couch, grab the remote...and prepare to be enlightened.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Writer, comedian, and longtime couch potato Gregory Bergman is the author of the bestselling WTF? humor series as well as five additional books. He published his first book, The Little Book of Bathroom Philosophy, while studying philosophy at Hunter College. When he is not writing or performing stand-up, he watches TV--a lot.

Peter Archer is an editor at Adams Media and the author of The Quotable Intellectual.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media (July 18, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1440512418
• ISBN-13: 978-1440512414
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.7 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,296,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not at all what I expected, or wanted. October 2, 2011

By J. Jamison

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

First, don't let the cover deceive you. The cover indicated to me that this would be a fun book about TV with insights from Socrates, Aristotle and that group thrown in. Instead, this book is incredibly boring, because it is a book about Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Descartres and that group with a little TV thrown in. I don't even know why any TV was thrown in because there seemed to be no tie-in, except artificially-- which I think might have been a ploy to sell the book. I bought it. But I was under the impression that it was going to be interesting and a book I would want to read. If I wanted to read Karl Marx (yep, he's in there, too) I could have found a more interesting book than this.