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Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture #27
Arrested Development and Philosophy: They've Made a Huge Mistake
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT AND PHILOSOPHY Is George Michael’s crush on his cousin unnatural?
Is it immoral for Lindsay to lie about stealing clothes to hide her job?
Is Gob better off living his life in bad faith?
What inferences can we draw from Tobias’s double-entendres?
Are the pictures really of bunkers or balls? The Bluth family’s faults, foibles, and character flaws are so excruciatingly familiar that we squirm in painful recognition of the outrageous impulses that we all have but would never act on. The Bluths seem utterly unaware of the gaping distance between their behavior and accepted social norms. Lurking behind this craziness are large moral and philosophical issues to be explored. From Plato to Aristotle, from Descartes to Marx, Arrested Development and Philosophy draws from great philosophical minds to shed new light on the show’s key questions and captivating themes, including the nature of self-knowledge and happiness, business ethics and capitalist alienation, social class, the role of error in character development, and much more.
Is it immoral for Lindsay to lie about stealing clothes to hide her job?
Is Gob better off living his life in bad faith?
What inferences can we draw from Tobias’s double-entendres?
Are the pictures really of bunkers or balls? The Bluth family’s faults, foibles, and character flaws are so excruciatingly familiar that we squirm in painful recognition of the outrageous impulses that we all have but would never act on. The Bluths seem utterly unaware of the gaping distance between their behavior and accepted social norms. Lurking behind this craziness are large moral and philosophical issues to be explored. From Plato to Aristotle, from Descartes to Marx, Arrested Development and Philosophy draws from great philosophical minds to shed new light on the show’s key questions and captivating themes, including the nature of self-knowledge and happiness, business ethics and capitalist alienation, social class, the role of error in character development, and much more.
272 pages, Paperback
First published November 8, 2011
17 people are currently reading
329 people want to read
About the author
Kristopher G. Phillips
2 books9 followersKristopher Phillips lives in Detroit, Michigan. He is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Eastern Michigan University in the History and Philosophy Department. When he's not teaching, he enjoys coffee, wine, and most any sports team from Detroit.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
May 17, 2013
I made a huge mistake when I checked this out.
April 22, 2012
It would seem logical that only a fan of the show would read this, so the beating into the ground of show quotes was not necessary. Most of these essays were both unnecessary and bereft of any actual philosophical insight. I hope Mitch Hurwitz sues them so they won't proliferate their terrible writing on other show related pieces.
October 8, 2012
I read a third and then started skimming. Too repeative and the quoting also was too much. Better to watch the show. Couldn't finish. Will sell the book to fairs fair.
September 2, 2016
Overall, there were a few interesting tidbits to be gleaned from the book, but given that each chapter was written by a different author, there were quite a few things that were repeated from one chapter to another (such as referencing exactly the same situation in the show or character trait in several chapters). I was also hoping for a bit more intro-to-philosophy type of information from the book, but was disappointed. There's not much to be learned here, even if you have never taken a course in philosophy.
April 18, 2012
Underwhelming :\ Got repetitive after awhile. Although some of those quotes and jokes could never possibly get old.
July 11, 2012
I love Arrested Development, so I was going to at least enjoy some of the book. At the very least recalling various quotes and scenes along the way would make me laugh. However, where other ______ and Philosophy books have so many possible philosophical elements of the show to tap into, Arrested Development and Philosophy is a bit more limited in that regard. There was some interesting stuff in there, but not nearly as much as some other books from the series that I've read (Lost and Philosophy, Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy, Simpsons and Philosophy).
May 12, 2017
Lo que más disfruté de este libro es cuánto me recordó lo genial que es Arrested Development, e hizo que me dieran muchas ganas de volver a ver la serie. Es un libro de filosofía básica (tema del cual no sabía absolutamente nada) tomando ejemplos de situaciones de la serie. Es muy divertido e ilustrativo, no me hizo enamorarme de la filiosofía pero mi amor por arrested development me ayudó a aprender algo nuevo.
October 12, 2012
Ich liebe die "pop culture and philosophy" Reihe, aber hier sind zu viele langweilige Beiträge drin, als dass ich es volllherzig empfehlen könnte.
June 4, 2013
I should have read the description closer. While I am a HUGE fan of the show, this book was not what I thought it would be. I agree with the reviewer that said, "I made a huge mistake."
December 28, 2022
This is one of the weaker entrants in this Philosophy series. Repetitive and weakly imbued with the humor that’s present in other books in the series. Bit of a disservice to the funny brilliance of the subject, Arrested Development.
January 10, 2020
This seems to be a polarizing book. It has a meh rating but a lot of 1-star reviews. I'm not sure why. This book isn't amazing, but I can't think of anything particularity wrong with it either. It's a collection of essays on various philosophical topics that all relate to Arrested Development. This books isn't written for actual philosophers and most of the essays are fairly simple, but I enjoyed a lot of them. There were some duds, but for the most part they were all enjoyable. I even laughed a few times, though admittedly that was because the author reminded me of a hilarious AD gag. I doubt I'll ever re-read this, but I think I'll read some other collections from this series.
August 5, 2013
It started out as an interesting analysis, but got a bit repetitive about halfway through. It would be better if it were shorter.
June 9, 2018
This is a heady look at one of my favorite television series, Arrested Development. The authors do a fabulous job making philosophy accessible and using examples from just about every episode to discuss each philosophy. (Note: The text was written prior to Netflix reviving the show 10 years later.So all of the examples are from the first three seasons.)
I always loved the show because of the smart writing, and the episodes can’t be watched just once. There’s too much to take in. This application of philosophy to the series helps me understand why the writing is so smart.
This book is a great way to learn a little bit about the most famous philosophers (Think: Freud, Kant, Jung, Rousseau) while reliving some of the best moments on television.
I always loved the show because of the smart writing, and the episodes can’t be watched just once. There’s too much to take in. This application of philosophy to the series helps me understand why the writing is so smart.
This book is a great way to learn a little bit about the most famous philosophers (Think: Freud, Kant, Jung, Rousseau) while reliving some of the best moments on television.
May 10, 2019
Just a good enough book to kill the time for the fans of the show. 4/5 stars.
April 14, 2025
A fun read for those who are utterly obsessed with the Bluth family, and their loveable immorality.
April 6, 2012
Arrested Development and Philosophy is an interesting project. I'm going to try to describe it, though I'll also try to avoid a lot of normative statements, since many of the things I have to say could be either pros or cons depending on the way you approach the book.
First, Arrested Development and Philosophy isn't a philosophy book, it's a book about philosophy (and Arrested Development). What I mean is that while you'll find interesting connections between the history of philosophy and Arrested Development, and even a few interesting explorations of philosophical problems related to the series, but you won't find much deep philosophical thought. Of course, you can't really expect anything else in a collection of short essays, but it's worth bearing in mind.
Second, the book was in many ways a collection rather than a single complete thing. There were some unifying aspects, of course, and the organization of the chapters made a lot of sense. But it just didn't read like a single piece. Authors would rely on the same jokes that had been killed plenty of times by the previous chapters (it's perhaps easier to count the chapters that didn't reference Steve Holt (!) or that didn't deliberately not not call it the O.C. than to count those that did.) This also manifested itself in some repeated (or at least not efficiently delivered) material: separate introductions to basic Marxism in "Dr. Funke's 100 Percent Natural Good-Time Alienation Solution" and "Bourgeois Bluths: Arrested Development and Class Status," for instance.
Which brings me to another point: this is a book aimed at people who lack familiarity with major philosophical figures. It probably helps to know who Plato and Aristotle are going in, but even that isn't strictly necessary. If you're familiar with Locke, Freud and Kant, be prepared to wade through some (inevitably simplified) summaries.
The essays that I found least interesting were those (such as "Kissing Cousins: Incest, Naturalism, and the Yuck Factor" or "Is Justified True Bluth Belief Knowledge?") that attempted to present a quick introduction to a philosophical debate that was at best motivated by an event in the show, or using examples drawn from the show. Some of the best, I thought, were those (such as "To Bias Tobias: Gender, Identity, Sexuality, and Arrested Development" and "'I Just Blue Myself': The Use and Abuse of Language in Arrested Development") which attacked issues more central to the show, or at least issues which Arrested Development seems particularly suited for drawing out.
At the end of the day, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you set your expectations correctly, and if you're of fan of Arrested Development with at least a passing interest in philosophy, it's definitely worth reading.
First, Arrested Development and Philosophy isn't a philosophy book, it's a book about philosophy (and Arrested Development). What I mean is that while you'll find interesting connections between the history of philosophy and Arrested Development, and even a few interesting explorations of philosophical problems related to the series, but you won't find much deep philosophical thought. Of course, you can't really expect anything else in a collection of short essays, but it's worth bearing in mind.
Second, the book was in many ways a collection rather than a single complete thing. There were some unifying aspects, of course, and the organization of the chapters made a lot of sense. But it just didn't read like a single piece. Authors would rely on the same jokes that had been killed plenty of times by the previous chapters (it's perhaps easier to count the chapters that didn't reference Steve Holt (!) or that didn't deliberately not not call it the O.C. than to count those that did.) This also manifested itself in some repeated (or at least not efficiently delivered) material: separate introductions to basic Marxism in "Dr. Funke's 100 Percent Natural Good-Time Alienation Solution" and "Bourgeois Bluths: Arrested Development and Class Status," for instance.
Which brings me to another point: this is a book aimed at people who lack familiarity with major philosophical figures. It probably helps to know who Plato and Aristotle are going in, but even that isn't strictly necessary. If you're familiar with Locke, Freud and Kant, be prepared to wade through some (inevitably simplified) summaries.
The essays that I found least interesting were those (such as "Kissing Cousins: Incest, Naturalism, and the Yuck Factor" or "Is Justified True Bluth Belief Knowledge?") that attempted to present a quick introduction to a philosophical debate that was at best motivated by an event in the show, or using examples drawn from the show. Some of the best, I thought, were those (such as "To Bias Tobias: Gender, Identity, Sexuality, and Arrested Development" and "'I Just Blue Myself': The Use and Abuse of Language in Arrested Development") which attacked issues more central to the show, or at least issues which Arrested Development seems particularly suited for drawing out.
At the end of the day, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you set your expectations correctly, and if you're of fan of Arrested Development with at least a passing interest in philosophy, it's definitely worth reading.
August 6, 2018
Like you could learn about philosophy from a TV show? C’mon! Arrested Development and Philosophy: They’ve Made a Huge Mistake is a hilariously entertaining look at this smart and witty sitcom. Featuring 18 essays that address a myriad of topics, including Identity, Class, Language, Sex & Gender, and Narrative, the discussions are incredibly thought-provoking…and funny. The authors (Her?) are clearly fans of the series and cleverly slip in several of the running gags and ticks (I mean illusions) of the show. However, a couple of the essays don’t really work, and kind of stretch to make connections between the characters and themes of the show and the philosophical concepts being explored. Still, overall Arrested Development and Philosophy: They’ve Made a Huge Mistake is a fun and insightful read that always remembers to leave a note.
June 4, 2012
A fun, enjoyable, and occasionally thought-provoking book. It's been nearly 30 years since I took my last college philosophy class, so I thought I would struggle with that portion of the book, but it was actually trying to remember the characters, plots and lines from "Arrested Development" that proved to be more of a challenge for me. Well worth the time.
August 12, 2014
This book was frustrating. It was like a textbook based on something I love. Though it made it easier to understand philosophy using something I was very familiar with, it took away something from the show for me. Some of the articles, calling them that because that's what they were, were extremely interesting and worthwhile. Others made me hate reading.
August 14, 2016
An awesome collection of essays that dealt with various philosophical problems and theories through the lens of Arrested Development. This series is an excellent way to look at philosophy in a new light.
May 19, 2012
Cute, and a good-enough intro to philosophy at maybe a high school or undergrad level.
October 29, 2016
This is one of the best books in the series. Covers a lot more hot and controversial topics in comparison to other books in the series.
August 1, 2019
3.5 stars
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May 6, 2017Ridiculous and hilarious. It's like watching one full episode of the show. Shaking head... the philosophy of Bluths. Intelligent and weird.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews