The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy

Last week my sweet husband, Walter, needed to go to  Texas Woman's University to a meeting. He asked if I wanted to go with him, and since I hadn't been on campus in a number of years I decided to go along. At first I thought I would just sit somewhere quiet and read, but then we parked near the bookstore. You know what that means! Well, of course I HAD to go in and look around. Now, it has been 14 years since we graduated from TWU, but I still got a thrill when I walked through the doors. One of the best thrills was that I was not there to spend hundreds of dollars on text books (even though I have seriously thought about going back to school to work on my doctorate). As I walked around I really tried not to go over to the books. I knew I did not NEED any new books, but I could not control myself. I walked over and the very first book I saw was yelling my name, not calling mind you, but YELLING for me to pick it up. It must have known that once I picked it up and started reading through the table of contents there would be no turning back. Boy, am I that easy of a mark?!? I guess so. Here is the cover of the book that now lives in our home.

The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy:
Rock, Paper, Scissors, Aristotle, Locke
Edited by William Irwin and Dean A. Kowalski

For those  who know my family well, or even if you just casually know us I guess, you will see why this book just HAD to come home with me! My sweet son is Sheldon Cooper! Not really, but he has a lot of the same characteristics (good and bad) of this Big Bang Theory character. We love the show and can hardly watch a rerun without MY little Sheldon saying the dialogue along with the actors.

I have to say, this book came to me at an important time in my life, all joking aside. I enjoyed the philosophy class I took in college (although not at TWU, the other university in town, UNT). Since that class so many years ago, I have not really thought about reading a book on philosophy. I have by no means finished reading the book. I am slowly absorbing the information and actually highlighting passages that I want to remember and refer to later. I know this sounds a little ridiculous, but this book has made me understand some issues that I have been dealing with in my personal life. You probably think I'm crazy, but it is true. The way the authors make connections between the philosophers statements of so long ago, specifically Aristotle, and the relationships and antics of the BBT characters is wonderful. 

Earlier in the year, my son presented a speech on Shakespeare. He had been working on this speech since last summer. It was his Academic Decathlon speech for competition and very important to him. Seeing my little boy grow into a young man and create has amazed me. I know you are probably wondering why I am including this randomness, but I do have a point. His speech was about Shakespeare's writings and how so many people just don't "get" him. (I being one of them.) I was amazed how he developed his speech around the wonderful productions he has been a part of through the Stolen Shakespeare Guild by making the connection between the entertainment of the days when Shakespeare's plays were debuting and the television of now. He made reference to The Big Bang Theory and Love's Labour's Lost, Two and a Half Men and A Comedy of Errors , even CSI and Othello and Julius Cesar.  The same is true for the above mentioned book. We might not always understand the information from the scholars of long ago but when connections are made for us based on the things we know and love it is so much easier to understand.

By the way, this book will fit into my 2012 Summer Reading Challenge...non-fiction!