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The Sopranos and Philosophy: I Kill Therefore I Am (Popular Culture and Philosophy) Paperback – March 16, 2004
| Richard Greene (Editor) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
| Peter Vernezze (Editor) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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- Print length352 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherOpen Court
- Publication dateMarch 16, 2004
- Dimensions6.16 x 0.51 x 8.98 inches
- ISBN-109780812695588
- ISBN-13978-0812695588
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Product details
- ASIN : 0812695585
- Publisher : Open Court; 1st edition (March 16, 2004)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 352 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780812695588
- ISBN-13 : 978-0812695588
- Item Weight : 11.5 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.16 x 0.51 x 8.98 inches
- Customer Reviews:
About the authors

I am a Professor of Philosophy at Weber State University, the past Director of the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl, and the Director of the Richard Richards Institute for Ethics. I co-host, along with Rachel Robison-Greene, the pop culture and philosophy podcast I Think, Therefore I Fan. I write on popular culture and philosophy (among other topics).

A philosophy professor for fifteen years, I recently took a leave of absence to join the Peace Corps and served two years as a volunteer at Sichuan Normal University in Chengdu. During this time I held a philosophical discussion group with my Chinese undergraduates, which serves as the basis for my forthcoming book Socrates in Sichuan: Chinese Students Search for Truth, Justice and the Chinese Way (Potomac Books). The book attempts to bring together my academic experience as a student and teacher of Chinese philosophy and culture with my practical experience as a Peace Corps volunteer. The book is a continuation of my passion for writing about intellectual matters for non-specialists. At present, I am a sojourner in civilized life again.
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" The Soprano's " series.
Of course, we all recognize that it's kind of like dressing up for Halloween: it's fun, but you realize that reality is real, and that we would feel sorry for anyone who really had to live the life of Tony Soprano. Take for example, how he had to " burn up " his friend Arthur Bucco's restaurant- Vesuvio: his overtone and justification for doing the deed was to prevent his Uncle Junior from killing a rival gangster in the restaurant, but the real reason was that he would have lost a place at which he had many meals that he ate but never paid for.
The book takes this, and many other of Tony's misdeeds and begins to illustrate the difficulty and complexity of maintaining " The mask of Domocles " - how you present one face to others, but know yourself as another- the rubber band must snap, and that's exactly what happens in the first episode where Tony must start therapy with Dr. Melfi.
In my opinion, Richard Greene does an outstanding job in illustrating this point. what started out as a fun read became a joy on many levels for me.
I'm sure it will do the same for many other readers.
There's a nice balance of classic philosophy (Tony Soprano as Aristotelean hero), 19th century philosophy (Sopranos as nihilism), eastern philosophy (Tony's use of Sun Tzu to guide him in the business), and modern philosophy (Carmela as feminist). Using a successful television series to demonstrate how philosophy is more than abstract throught and can be used to guide modern actions is a tremendously clever idea.
If you are looking for hard-core philosophy, this is not your book. There's no Hegelian dialectics or heavy language to digest. Instead, this is a fun and easy way to expose yourself to philosophy or refresh yourself on many different schools of thought. The Sopranos is a great backdrop against which the reader can explore the ethics of modern society.
The seventeen essays are grouped under five headings: history of philosophy, ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, and philosophy of religion. If these topics sound too academic for a show like The Sopranos, don't worry. All but one or two of the essays are written in a style accessible to the general reading public.
The essays provide a good mix of discussion of the first four seasons of the show. The essay on nihilism traces Tony's existential crisis across the first fifty-two episodes. The chapter on how The Sopranos is like a Greek tragedy focuses primarily on season one, whereas the essay on the problem of evil places emphasis on the dominance of that issue in season four. While many of the essays focus on Tony (for obvious reasons), it seems all the major characters are amply covered. Carmela gets an essay devoted entirely to her, and Dr. Melfi is prominently discussed in several essays. Even Charmaine Bucco comes under scrutiny.
The authors love for the show is evident in every essay, and the editors seem to have taken great care to get things right. I checked many of the quotes against my DVD copies of the series and found them dead on accurate. My only complaint is that I would have liked more essays. And though I am glad Open Court decided to put the volume out now, since it has greatly deepened my appreciation for The Sopranos, I hope they put out a revised version once the series ends.








