Table of Contents
Popular Culture and Philosophy
Title Page
AN EXTRAORDINARY GENIUS FOR MINUTIAE
Chapter 1 - A Sherlockian Scandal in Philosophy
No Romantic Illusions
The Conatus and Cocaine
The Most Impious and the Most Dangerous Man of the Century
The House that Holmes Built
Chapter 2 - Calculating Humanity
Human, Inhuman, or Underhuman?
To Underestimate One’s Ability Is Just as Wrong as Overestimation
You Don’t Think I Put Too Much Color and Life into It?
The Law Is as Dangerous to Us as the Criminals Are
One’s Moral Code Is a Decisive Witness to Who He Is
This Fellow Rings True Every Time
I Cannot Agree with Those that Rank Modesty among the Virtues
His Work Is Its Own Reward
Chapter 3 - Is Holmes Really Just Lucky?
It was easier to know it than to explain why I know it.
Any truth is better than indefinite doubt.
Let us hear the suspicions—I will look after the proofs.
There is nothing more stimulating than a case where everything goes against you.
Fortunately for the King and Queen, I was on top of my game.
I have heard your reasons and regard them as unconvincing and inadequate.
One should always look for a possible alternative, and provide against it.
We balance the probabilities and choose the most likely. It is the scientific ...
Education never ends Watson. It is a series of lessons with the greatest for ...
Chapter 4 - The Adventure of the Candle and the Dumbbell
The Adventures of Things and the Things of Adventure
Birlstone Manor Revisited
Chapter 5 - Action Man or Dreamy Detective
Asking the Right Question
Playing the Guessing Game
Maybes and Must Bes
Three to Get Ready
A Toolbox for Your Holmes
A DOG REFLECTS THE FAMILY LIFE
Chapter 6 - From the Mean Streets to Baker Street
The Evidence
Tea For Two versus Table For One
Same Tools, Different Problems
The 3:00 A.M. Moment
Great Villains Make Great Heroes
Femme Fatales and Remarkable Women
A Man and His City
Final Recommendations
Chapter 7 - The Mystery of the Horrible Hound
Deconstructing Doyle’s Dog
The Philosophy of Horror
Re-Solving The Hound
The Postmodern Condition
Chapter 8 - The Case of the Dangerous Detective
Chapter 9 - I Suppose I Shall Have to Compound a Felony as Usual
Whose Justice?
The Holmes Tradition
Holmes’s Law
An Eye for an Eye
Chapter 10 - The Game Has Virtually Stumbled
Interpreting the Facts
Lost in Reality
Realization Hits
Run, Jump, Shoot, Screw . . . but Don’t Think
The Art of Deduction
If Not Holmes, then Watson?
Sticky Paint
The Game Is (and Isn’t) Afoot
Chapter 11 - The Curious Case of the Controversial Canon
For Those Who Came in Late
Why It Matters
Back to Baker Street
Canon Fodder
Bizarre Lack of Adventure
Tricky Man
At Play
Interlude
But the Contradictions! What about the Contradictions?
Chapter 12 - How Marriage Changed Sherlock Holmes
The Woman (or The Girl?)
Two into One
Crazy Love
From I to We
Surviving Fusion
Chapter 13 - A Study in Friendship
Good Friends?
Good for Me, Good for You
An Act of Persuasian
Recognizing the Difference
The Best Kind of Friend
Chapter 14 - Out of House and Holmes
Model of Perfection
The Essential Man
A Man’s Man
Who Says a House Is Not a Holmes?
Boys to Men
Men to Boys
Rubik’s Complex
Defiant Male Behavior
Chapter 15 - A Feminist Scandal in Holmes’s Generalizations
It Is a Capital Mistake to Theorize before You Have All the Evidence
Watson, the Fair Sex Is Your Department
Doyle’s Proto-Feminist: Irene Adler
The Honorable, the Woman
THERE ARE UNEXPLORED POSSIBILITIES IN YOU
Chapter 16 - The Many Faces of Deception
Why They Might Deceive Us
How They Might Deceive Us
A Master of Disguise
Hiding in Plain Sight
Creating a False Impression
Deceived by Words
Infernal Lies
I Didn’t Say So, Mr. Holmes
It’s a Conspiracy
Detecting Deception
Useless Facts
Wrapping Up the Case
Chapter 17 - Watson’s a Liar!
Do Not Trust Watson. Ever
If Only We Could Ask the Book. Or Holmes
But It Is Not Deduction!
All We Want Is the Truth
Failing the Truth. Or the Truth in Failing
Is It All Meaningless?
Chapter 18 - Dark Rumors and Hereditary Tendencies
A Wilde Guess
The Aesthete and the Philistine
That Far-Away Look
Chapter 19 - A Touch of the Dramatic
Creating Stories
Closer to Art than Science?
Are Bizarre Explanations Better?
Connecting the Dots
An Order of Significance
Framing the Story
The Man with the Twisted Lip
An Inexact Science
HOLMES IS A LITTLE SCIENTIFIC FOR MY TASTES
Chapter 20 - Resisting the Siren Song of Rationalism
We Meet a Man, the Epitome of His Era
Fear at the Brink of Tomorrow, Even for a Genius
A New Man Emerges for a New Era
Who This New Man Is Not
Who This New Man Is
The New Man or the Old?
Chapter 21 - The Thing the Lion Left
The Soul, Uneasy
Possession of the Gods
The Most Precious of All Lessons
Alias Sherringford Hope?
Facing the Truth
Time Enough to Drink the Poison
Chapter 22 - Where the Most Logical Mind May Be at Fault
Dreaming of Difference
Backwards Thinking
Emotional Rescue
This Way Lies Madness
Chapter 23 - What Mycroft Knows that Sherlock Doesn’t
Mycroft’s Unique Insight
Lock and Key
Billiard Balls that Don’t Move
Superficial Tricks
The Kindly Whispered “Norbury”
Our Best Bet
MUSIC AT STRANGE HOURS OR THAT MIXTURE OF IMAGINATION AND REALITY
Chapter 24 - Why Sherlock Holmes Is My Favorite Drug User
A Clue Isn’t Helpful to the Case until the Detective Notices Its Worth
The Essence of Consciousness
Why Dr. Watson Has No Specia
l Powers
Interior Design
Sherlock Holmes Eats Roast Beef, Scotland Yard Has None
The Essence of Perception: Holmes’s Intention and Objects Intended
Chapter 25 - Boredom on Baker Street
Unwelcome Social Summonses
Trifles, Our World, and Black Moods
Three Times the Solution, or . . .
The Seven Percent Conclusion
Chapter 26 - Willful Self-Destruction?
The Mysterious Nature of Weakness of Will
A Mystery You Cannot Ignore
Socrates Takes the Case
Aristotle Examines the Evidence
The Game’s Afoot
Chapter 27 - Like Some Strange Buddha
The Art of Masterful Control
The Practice of Patient Attention
The Awakened One
THE TRACING OF FOOTSTEPS
Chapter 28 - Why Sherlock Is Like a Good Hip-Hop Song
A Case of Pastiche
The Scientific Use of the Imagination
Eccentric or Sociopath: You Say Tomato, I Say Tomato?
A Study in . . . Pink!
So When Is the Lovely Couple Going to Get Killed?
The Adventure of the Time-Traveling Detective
Chapter 29 - Moriarty’s Final Human Problem in Star Trek: The Next Generation
Which Is More Human: An Android Holmes or Holographic Moriarty?
The Evil Genius that Turns Moriarty into a Brain in a Vat
Chapter 30 - The Curious Case of the Dog in Prime Time
Cartoon Animals
“Famous” Animals
Famous Animal Detectives
Dreams of Dogs and Butterflies
Chapter 31 - A Study in Simulacra
I Ain’t ‘Fraid of No Holmes
Maybe Winston’s onto Something
I Have a Radical Idea
Murder with a Side of Hyperreal
Case Closed
Chapter 32 - The Game Is Still Afoot!
Living and Breathing
The . . . Game . . . Is . . .
. . . Afoot!
. . . Play.
. . . Real?
. . . Serious Business!
. . . Not Just a Magic Circle.
. . . Blurring the Boundaries.
Chapter 33 - The Final Final Problem
Two Bodies—or Two Corpses?
The Body Count Rises
So Who’s the Victim?
The Adventure of the New Marketplace
Come, Watson! The Game Is Afoot!
The Adventure of the King’s Crown
All the Queen’s Horses
HE IS A MAN OF HABITS AND I AM ONE OF THEM
The Very Smartest of Our Detective Officers - For Whose Future Holmes Had High Hopes
His Ignorance Was As Remarkable as His Knowledge
Hullo! Hullo! Good Old Index!
Copyright Page
Popular Culture and Philosophy®
Series Editor: George A. Reisch
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The Matrix and Philosophy: Welcome to the Desert of the Real (2002)
VOLUME 4
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy: Fear and Trembling in Sunnydale (2003)
VOLUME 5
The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (2003)
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Harry Potter and Philosophy: If Aristotle Ran Hogwarts (2004)
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Superheroes and Philosophy: Truth, Justice, and the Socratic Way (2005)
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Bob Dylan and Philosophy: It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Thinking) (2006)
VOLUME 19
Monty Python and Philosophy: Nudge Nudge, Think Think! (2006)
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VOLUME 25
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The Grateful Dead and Philosophy: Getting High Minded about Love and Haight (2007)
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VOLUME 30
Pink Floyd and Philosophy: Careful with that Axiom, Eugene! (2007)
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Johnny Cash and Philosophy: The Burning Ring of Truth (2008)
VOLUME 32
Bruce Springsteen and Philosophy: Darkness on the Edge of Truth (2008)
VOLUME 33
Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up? (2008) Edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin
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iPod and Philosophy: iCon of an ePoch (2008) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
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Star Trek and Philosophy: The Wrath of Kant (2008) Edited by Jason T. Eberl and Kevin S. Decker
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The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy: I Link Therefore I Am (2008) Edited by Luke Cuddy
VOLUME 37
The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West (2008) Edited by Randall E. Auxier and Phillip S. Seng
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Supervillains and Philosophy: Sometimes, Evil Is Its Own Reward (2009) Edited by Ben Dyer
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The Golden Compass and Philosophy: God Bites the Dust (2009) Edited by Richard Greene and Rachel Robison
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Led Zeppelin and Philosophy: All Will Be Revealed (2009) Edited by Scott Calef
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World of Warcraft and Philosophy: Wrath of the Philosopher King (2009) Edited by Luke Cuddy and John Nordlinger
VOLUME 46
Mr. Monk and Philosophy: The Curious Case of the Defective Detective (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
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Anime and Philosophy: Wide Eyed Wonder (2010) Edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin
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The Red Sox and Philosophy: Green Monster Meditations (2010) Edited by Michael Macomber
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Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy: New Life for the Undead (2010) Edited by Richard Greene and K. Silem Mohammad
VOLUME 50
Facebook and Philosophy: What’s on Your Mind? (2010) Edited by D.E. Wittkower
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Soccer and Philosophy: Beautiful Thoughts on the Beautiful Game (2010) Edited by Ted Richards