Men of the decade!

[DoTheFandango]

Homer simpson as a philosopher is just pathetic. Shows like the Simpsons and Family Guy are great and all but I would hardly classify Homer Simpson or Peter Griffin anywhere near the ranks of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Voltaire or even Marx.

BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW PLATO WAS ALIVE IN THE PAST 10 YEARS.

God damn you guys are bitchy.

It just means that his way of thinking has provoked discussions, it didn't mean that they are right, or even necessarily accurate. Hitler was a philosopher, but you wouldn't think he was right either would you?

Now, go shut up and kiss my nads.

[ZeUs!!]

BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW PLATO WAS ALIVE IN THE PAST 10 YEARS.

God damn you guys are bitchy.

It just means that his way of thinking has provoked discussions, it didn't mean that they are right, or even necessarily accurate. Hitler was a philosopher, but you wouldn't think he was right either would you?

Now, go shut up and kiss my nads.

For those of you who haven't figured it out, I said pretty much the same thing in the 4th post, then realised that much like the poll, Fit of Wank was being ironic too

[Dealt]

none of the above?

[Fit of Rage]

BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW PLATO WAS ALIVE IN THE PAST 10 YEARS.

God damn you guys are bitchy.

It just means that his way of thinking has provoked discussions, it didn't mean that they are right, or even necessarily accurate. Hitler was a philosopher, but you wouldn't think he was right either would you?

Now, go shut up and kiss my nads.

So a Hollywood writer sitting at a desk writing "funnies" for a yellow cartoon character to blurt out suddenly constitutes new and groundbreaking views of life? It's not a matter of being right or wrong. It's a matter of people taking things way out of the context they were meant to be. If you interviewed Matt Groening and asked him why he made the Simpsons, I'm willing to bet his answer would be closer to "making a funny show" instead of "developing popular philosophy as we know it."

Mike, calling me "Fit of Wank" does wonders. I'm really hurt on the inside, I promise.

[Jerome Scuggs]

albarn did some nice things with gorillazzzz

[Exotic]

tim the tool man taylor arhhh arhh arhhh arrrhh

[genocidal]

So a Hollywood writer sitting at a desk writing "funnies" for a yellow cartoon character to blurt out suddenly constitutes new and groundbreaking views of life? It's not a matter of being right or wrong. It's a matter of people taking things way out of the context they were meant to be. If you interviewed Matt Groening and asked him why he made the Simpsons, I'm willing to bet his answer would be closer to "making a funny show" instead of "developing popular philosophy as we know it."

First of all, drawing on what DTF already said, Homer is on there because of the thought-provoking actions and questions his characters poses. Have you ever read any of Socrates? No, because he didn't write anything. Plato, however, wrote most of his stuff in the form of dialogues with Socrates posing questions to random people - sounds more like Homer Simpson now doesn't it? Maybe you should actually read some Plato. Not all philosophy is in the form of essays, extended essays, and dissertations.

Also, television as an art form is probably the most intriguing sociological, philosophical, political, social, and every other -al you can think of form of the last 200 years (the last greatest "invention" being the rise of the novel, I would argue). The ability to mass communicate replicates of information to the entire world is quite a stepping block for society. You should read some Walter Benjamin or Amy Kaplan for more information regarding the rise of film specifically as an extremely important means of art and mass communication (since The Simpsons is merely a prolonged extension of film).

Additionally, you said originally that "even Marx" is a better philosopher than Homer Simpson. Are you trying to say Marx wasn't that respectable of a philosopher or thinker? Because if you are, LOLOLOLOLOLOLOOOL at you.

[Vykromond]

Also, television as an art form is probably the most intriguing sociological, philosophical, political, social, and every other -al you can think of form of the last 200 years (the last greatest "invention" being the rise of the novel, I would argue).

Replace "television" with "the internet" and I'd agree with you

You should read some Walter Benjamin or Amy Kaplan for more information regarding the rise of film specifically as an extremely important means of art and mass communication

Yes, film. Which... predates television. Your point?

(since The Simpsons is merely a prolonged extension of film).

Uh, what? No. If you strung 'The Simpsons' together, it wouldn't make a film. Television shows are not films.

[genocidal]

Replace "television" with "the internet" and I'd agree with you

Yeah right. Internet may one day have the influence television has had but the fact that every family virtually in America and many abroad have TVs in their homes proves their widespread accessibility. Not to mention the fact that the internet is an active form of information gathering as opposed to television which is passive and serves as a distraction. All this better facilitates the political. Like I said, read Benjamin.

Yes, film. Which... predates television. Your point?

Huh? Kaplan's argument cites numerous instances of film and television. Television is even more influential than film because of the accessibility in the home - it just so happened that Benjamin wrote his stuff in the inter-war period in Germany (I believe). That doesn't moot his argument; I don't really know what you're trying to prove by this.

Uh, what? No. If you strung 'The Simpsons' together, it wouldn't make a film. Television shows are not films.

No, they aren't. The films referred to by Kaplan and many times by Benjamin are not movies. They are news shorts, and other weird, short bits of the like that we don't have anymore because of the rise of television and 500 channels. The point was that The Simpsons has a greater influence on the population than a single film because it's a popular and long-running television show that depicts, and often satires, a typical American family.

[Squeezer]

The only two men that belong up there are: Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel.

[Liquid Blue]

BECAUSE WE ALL KNOW PLATO WAS ALIVE IN THE PAST 10 YEARS.

God damn you guys are bitchy.

It just means that his way of thinking has provoked discussions, it didn't mean that they are right, or even necessarily accurate. Hitler was a philosopher, but you wouldn't think he was right either would you?

Now, go shut up and kiss my nads.

Homer Simpson? I personally can't name anyone that has lived in the past 10 years that would qualify for this position, but Homer Simpson just seems like a joke vote, not to be taken seriously. His way of thinking hasn't provoke any intellectual discussions, he's only been mentioned for the comedy aspect. He's so far away from the philosphical/ intellectual field in my mind that it can't be anything but a joke to place him as an important philsopher. Using Hitler as your example is a bit unfair, seeing as he was a mass murder and his image, the image that pops into your head when his name is mentioned isn't anything remotely close to Homer Simpson's image.

First of all, drawing on what DTF already said, Homer is on there because of the thought-provoking actions and questions his characters poses. Have you ever read any of Socrates? No, because he didn't write anything. Plato, however, wrote most of his stuff in the form of dialogues with Socrates posing questions to random people - sounds more like Homer Simpson now doesn't it?

Thought-provoking actions? I must have two characters confused, are you talking about the cartoon man that's mainly eaten doughnuts and been a prop comedic icon for the past 10+ years, thought-provoking? Maybe when you said Socrates didn't write anything, you meant essays, because it took me about 2 seconds to find pages of quotes of his. The written word is not the only means for a philsopher, or anyone for that matter, to pass on their ideas, thoughts and emotions. And again, when I think of Homer Simpson, I think of him choking Bart, or drooling over food, or doing something else silly. I seriously am getting paranoid that there is some other guy that's actually intelligent named Homer Simpson, and that I've missed him with the way you and DTF are talking.

Maybe you should actually read some Plato. Not all philosophy is in the form of essays, extended essays, and dissertations.

I agree.

Also, television as an art form is probably the most intriguing sociological, philosophical, political, social, and every other -al you can think of form of the last 200 years (the last greatest "invention" being the rise of the novel, I would argue). The ability to mass communicate replicates of information to the entire world is quite a stepping block for society. You should read some Walter Benjamin or Amy Kaplan for more information regarding the rise of film specifically as an extremely important means of art and mass communication (since The Simpsons is merely a prolonged extension of film).

Ugh, I'd rather go with the term " mental disease", but I can understand that there have been some benefits from television. IMO as time wears on those benefits lessen more and more.

[Theif of Time]

benefits: It keeps some stupid people off the streets.

[genocidal]

The quotes you found from Socrates were written by Plato. There is no historical confirmation that they are actual quotes from Socrates but as Plato wrote much of his early stuff (that was heavily influenced by Socratic ideas) in the form of dialogues with Socrates running around telling people they're wrong pretty much, they attribute the quotes to him.