Table Of Content
Dr. Seuss and Philosophy
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Dr. Seuss and Philosophy
Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!
edited by
Jacob M. Held
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, inc.
Lanham (cid:129) Boulder (cid:129) New York (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
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Published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com
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Copyright © 2011 by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dr. Seuss and philosophy : oh, the thinks you can think! / edited by Jacob M. Held.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-4422-0311-2 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Seuss, Dr.—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Literature—Philosophy. 3. Children’s
stories, American—History and criticism. I. Held, Jacob M., 1977– II. Title: Doctor
Seuss and philosophy.
PS3513.E2Z65 2011
813'.52—dc22
2011006488
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
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Dedicated to those teachers who impressed upon me through their words
and deeds that learning is about growing as an individual, and who helped
me grow immensely—especially Dr. James B. South and Ken Fought
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(cid:2)
Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
Editor’s Note xvii
Unsettled Meddling: An Introduction in Verse xix
Chapter 1 Oh, the Places You’ll Go! The Examined,
Happy Life 1
Benjamin Rider
Chapter 2 M y Troubles Are Going to Have Troubles with Me:
Schopenhauer, Pessimism, and Nietzsche 15
Jacob M. Held
Chapter 3 Gertrude McFuzz Should’ve Read Marx, or
Sneetches of the World Unite 29
Jacob M. Held
Chapter 4 Socratic Seuss: Intellectual Integrity and
Truth-Orientation 41
Matthew F. Pierlott
vii
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viii (cid:2) Contents
Chapter 5 Neither Here, nor There, nor Anywhere? 53
Randall E. Auxier
Chapter 6 McElligot’s Pool: Epistemology (with Fish!) 65
Ron Novy
Chapter 7 On Beyond Modernity, or Conrad and a
Postmodern Alphabet 79
Jacob M. Held
Chapter 8 From There to Here, from Here to There,
Diversity Is Everywhere 93
Tanya Jeffcoat
Chapter 9 What Would You Do If Your Mother Asked You?
A Brief Introduction to Ethics 103
Jacob M. Held and Eric N. Wilson
Chapter 10 Horton Hears You, Too! Seuss and Kant on
Respecting Persons 119
Dean A. Kowalski
Chapter 11 Pragmatist Ethics with John Dewey, Horton, and
the Lorax 133
Thomas M. Alexander
Chapter 12 The Grinch’s Change of Heart: Whodunit? 147
Anthony Cunningham
Chapter 13 Thidwick the Big-Hearted Bearer of
Property Rights 159
Aeon J. Skoble
Chapter 14 Rebellion in Sala-ma-Sond: The Social Contract
and a Turtle Named Mack 167
Ron Novy
Chapter 15 Whose Egg Is It, Really? Property Rights and
Distributive Justice 179
Henry Cribbs
Chapter 16 It’s Not Personal . . . It’s Just Bizzyneuss: Business
Ethics, the Company, and Its Stakeholders 191
Matthew F. Pierlott
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Contents (cid:2) ix
Chapter 17 S peaking for Business, Speaking for Trees: Business
and Environment in The Lorax 207
Johann A. Klaassen and Mari-Gretta G. Klaassen
Chapter 18 Dr. Seuss Meets Philosophical Aesthetics 219
Dwayne Tunstall
Notes 231
Index 249
The Menagerie: Author Biographies 257
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