What better way to brush up on your philosophical prowess than with a college course all about the longest-running sitcom in America history? The Simpsons is the focus of a new course at the University of Glasgow dedicated to exploring all that Homer and Marge have in common with the likes of Aristotle, Albert Camus, and Karl Marx.
"Homer is a very complex character in many ways," philosophy tutor Dr. John Donaldson toldBBC Wednesday. "He's very gluttonous, he can be quite violent and self-interested. But at the same time he's a character that's hard not to like. He's very popular. He has a childlike joy of life, he's open to doing the right thing and he's a faithful family man."
The course, formally dubbed D'Oh!: The Simpsons Introduce Philosophy, will be offered in multiple six-hour sessions in January and February of next year. Judging by the official course description, this class is definitely worth the £30 (roughly $37 in American bucks) tuition:
The Fox classic, recently renewed for a record-breaking 29th and 30th seasons, inspired some heated intellectual discourse last week when a presidential Lisa Simpson prediction from 2000 sadly came to pass. As Bart astutely summarized in the Simpsons' first post-election episode, "being right sucks."