Product Description

An unauthorized look at the philosophical issues raised by one of today′s most popular television shows: House

House is one of the top three television dramas on the air, pulling in more than 19 million viewers for each episode. This latest book in the popular Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series takes a deeper look at the characters and issues raised in this Emmy Award–winning medical drama, offering entertaining answers to the fascinating ethical questions viewers have about Dr. Gregory House and his medical team.

Henry Jacoby (Goldsboro, NC) teaches philosophy at East Carolina University. He has published articles primarily on the philosophy of mind and was a contributor to South Park and Philosophy
(978–1–4051–6160–2).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2680 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

From the Back Cover

Philosophy/Pop Culture

Is being nice overrated?

Are we really just selfish, base animals crawling across Earth in a meaningless existence?

Would reading less and watching more television be good for you?

Is House a master of Eastern philosophy or just plain rude?

Dr. Gregory House is arguably the most complex and challenging antihero in the history of television, but is there more to this self–important genius than gray matter and ego? This book takes a deeper look at House to reveal the philosophical underpinnings of this popular medical drama and its cane–waving curmudgeon′s most outrageous behavior. What emerges is a remarkable character who is part Sherlock Holmes, part Socratic philosopher, part Nietzschean superman, part Taoist rhetorician, and not at all as screwed up as you might think. With everything from Aristotle to Zen, House and Philosophy takes an engaging look at everyone′s favorite misanthropic genius and his team at Princeton–Plainsboro Hospital.

About the Author
HENRY JACOBY teaches philosophy at East Carolina University. He has published articles on the philosophy of mind and contributed to South Park and Philosophy. He lives in Goldsboro, North Carolina, with his wife, Kathryn, and their two cats, Bunkai and Willow.

WILLIAM IRWIN is a professor of philosophy at King′s College, Pennsylvania. He has coedited The Simpsons and Philosophy and edited Seinfeld and Philosophy, The Matrix and Philosophy, and Metallica and Philosophy.

Customer Reviews

Good introduction to philosophy for House fans
This is a good book for anyone who wants to understand some basic philosophical concepts and is also familiar with at least the first 4 seasons of House. I felt that the writers tended to take their chosen concept and try to fit Dr House into the mould, some having more success than others (although that isn't to say they weren't aware of this). However, for anyone who needs concrete examples in order to learn, House, with all his complexities is a great character to analyse and certainly gave me new insights.

In my opinion (and I am not a philosophy expert), this book does not succeed in sufficiently analysing the character of Dr House. I think a similar book employing psychological theories might be a good companion. Any offers?

Everybody loves somebody sometime, except you know who.
Most interesting to me were the bits comparing House with Sherlock Holmes. Commonalities include love of puzzle solving, house breaking, using Macchiavellian means to get at the truth, drug use, and deductive abilities. 'Your skin is orange, that means your wife is having an affair.'

My favorite parts were the chapter on love, and the chapter on friendship by Sara Protasi, and Sara Waller respectively. I also liked the ones on Sartre, and the Ubermensch.

Although some mention is made of the Socratic Method, it would need to be explained in more detail.

On the matter of Detective Tritter, which was one of my favorite parts in the series, it does not draw any analogy between House's behavior and the Trial of Socrates, even though House seems hell bent on his own destruction, much the way Socrates was.

Even though Socrates could have escaped, his apology was so bad that more people voted for his death than voted to convict him for his crime. So he took the hemlock.

It would be interesting to see the writers of this book tackle Aristotle's poetics, and it's influence on drama and screen writing in future books. As some philosophers were also psychiatrists, it might also enliven the reader to have some psychological insight into the character.

Philosophy is not for everyone. If you are like me, you will like the deeper philosophical dialogue in House, and you may find this book gives you further food for thought, and a curiosity to explore even further.

It does take genius writing to portray a genius character, and I would like to commend the writers of House for the brilliant job they do. Just because House is often wrong doesn't mean he is not eventually right.

I hope you find this review helpful.

Brilliant for any House nut
If you, like me just cannot get enough of everybody's favourite disgruntled genius and at the same time are interested in getting into philosophy this is the perfect book. it does what every good book like this should do: makes you think and create your own opinions about House's life and the reasons why he does certain things in the show.

The book is like having a 200 page long seminar. I just wish I could have being able to voice my opinions to the authors and attempt to argue my case where i did not agree with their interpretation.

All in all i would suggest it to anyone and has led me down to looking into other philosophical texts. House would be proud