Louis C.K. and Philosophy: You Don't Get to Be Bored

Popular Culture and Philosophy #99

by Mark Ralkowski (Editor)

Charlie Rose has called Louis C.K. “the philosopher-king of comedy,” and many have detected philosophical profundity in his material.

Twenty-five philosophers examine the wisdom of Louis C.K. from a variety of philosophical perspectives. The chapters draw upon C.K.’s standup comedy, the show Louie, and C.K.’s other writings.

One writer looks at the different meanings of C.K.’s statement, “You’re gonna be dead way longer than you were alive.” One chapter shows the affinity of C.K.’s “sick of living this bullshit life” with Kierkegaard’s “sickness unto death.” Another pursues Louis’s thought that we may by our lack of moral concern “live a really evil life without thinking about it.”

C.K.'s insistence that “things that are not can’t be” points to the philosophical problem of nothingness in relation to being. His religion is “apathetic agnostic,” conveyed in his thought experiment that God began work in 1982. Louis’s argument that you can have the kind of body you want if you make yourself want a disgusting, shitty body, is the Stoic ethics of Epictetus. And, as C.K. has shown in so many ways, the fact that we’re soon going to die has its funny side.

Genres: Philosophy, Comedy, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 12, 2016

Reviews

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of course as one of the contributors to this volume I'm incredibly biased and you shouldn't listen to me ... but maybe this is actually a really good collection of essays on various philosophical topics in the comedy of Louis C.K. including ethics, existentialism, religion, feminism, race, metaphysics, epistemology, boredom, children, and the funniest topic of them all: death.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 Stars - Recommended for anyone interested in Louis C.K. and philosophy

There is a lot of good stuff in this book. It made me appreciate Louis C.K.'s comedy more and I learned about several areas of philosophy I didn't know much about. The book is a series of essays written by different philosophers/philosophy professors, which is good and bad. Naturally, some chapters dealt with really esoteric philosophical questions I didn't have much interest in, but you are only stuck with that author/topic for one chapter. There is a good amount of repetition of concepts and Louis's material sited. The chapters are organized so similar concepts ones are grouped together, but I would have preferred a single editor/writer to merge some of them together so the points are streamlined and less repetitive.

Overall, it is an uneven read, but worth while if you like both Louis C.K. and philosophy

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys Louis CK's work and/or like an introduction to some cherry picked philosophy.

Some chapters necessitates some familiarity with Louis's work: his stand up and his TV show "Louie". However, many chapters can stand their own philosophical ground. Even without the contextual quotes and comments, the diffrent topics would still be graspable for most people not well versed in CK's world.
Most of Louie's jokes possess an universal appeal, and therefore, so does the philosophical augmentation of them.

You'll find a rife selection of philosophers and psychoanalysts here: from Nietzsche to Lacan. And, if you want to give philosophy a fledgling try, then this is as good a place as any to start.

[Maher Razouk · Rating 5 out of 5]

من السهل التغاضي عن أهمية الضحك في الحياة ؛ لا يسأل المحاورون عن عدد المرات التي تضحك فيها ؛ لا يتحقق الأطباء من الضحك في قائمتهم أثناء الفحص السنوي المزعج، ولا يتصل بك أحباؤك أبدًا ويخبروك أنهم قلقون لأنك لم تعد تضحك بما فيه الكفاية. ومع ذلك، إذا سألت شخصًا ما عن أكثر ما يحبه في شريكه، فغالبًا ما يكون أحد الردود الأولى هو أنه يتمتع بروح الدعابة. نحن نحب الأشخاص الذين يجعلوننا نضحك.

الضحك له بعض الخصائص المدهشة التي لا ندركها كثيرًا. إنه سيف ذو حدين: يمكن أن ينتج عنه شعور بالاندماج والفرح، مثل الضحك الجماعي في عرض كوميدي، ولكنه يمكن أن يثير أيضًا مشاعر مروعة من الإحراج والإهانة، مثل عندما تقصدك تلك المزحة في ذلك العرض الكوميدي. كما يمكن أن تتحول الابتسامة بسرعة من لفتة لطيفة إلى إشارة متعة حقيرة، يمكن أن يكون الضحك أيضًا محسوسًا بالقلب أو خبيثًا. يخبرنا لويس أن الضحك «مثل الثقب الأسود ، كل شيء يبدأ بالوقوع فيه» .
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Mark Ralkowski
Louis Ck And Philosophy
Translated By #Maher_Razouk

[Danny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Pop Culture and Philosophy series might start becoming one of my favorites. This is a collection of essays by different writers, so the quality of some of the chapters are lacking. Other than that, it offered a good reflection on old philosophical teachings and writers, while giving a great perspective and added depth to Louis CK's work.

[Jillian · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd give some sections a 4, others a 1. The book would've been a 3.5 or 4 if it ended about a quarter of the way through. Unfortunately it kept going, and the same bits were used over and over, do the text and concepts felt repetitive. The fact that each section was written by a different person made it feel somewhat disjointed, but also like multiple people were making the same exact point.

[Dylana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amo a Louie, pero es este tipo de repensamiento el que no soporto. La constante repetición y la poca naturalidad del texto realmente dan la sensación de pérdida.

[Chris Shoemaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of essays of uneven quality. Quite a bit of overlap between the essays, which is why I only read one from each chapter. Even though I've always thought Louis's comedy is deeply rooted in philosophical thinking, this was the first book I read on the intersection of stand-up and philosophy. And it's very interesting to read the philosophical concepts behind Louis' bit articulated by professionals. Might read the essays I skipped some other time.

[R Ace]

Excellent comedian.
This book is must read for a louis ck fan or just don't read.