With a history-making run of new episodes ahead of it, The Simpsons is now serving as the inspiration for one major college’s new course. Starting in January of 2017, the University of Glasgow will begin offering one-day classes based on the philosophical and higher-thinking side of the popular Matt Groening creation. Dubbed “D’oh! The Simpsons Introduce Philosophy,” the class will be taught by Dr. John Donaldson and present the “sophisticated philosophical themes” at work in the Fox program. In an official statement. Dr. Donaldson explains:
“Matt Groening, the man behind The Simpsons, was a student of philosophy, and that comes through in each episode. The Simpsons is a very sophisticated work of popular culture, with a broad scope and depth, and is full of philosophical themes. Very pleasingly, the course has proved to be incredibly popular on social media. It has gone viral. We’ve never really had a response like this before.”
For the course’s lessons, Dr. Donaldson aims to explore Aristotle’s possible opinion of Homer’s morality and ethics, Ned Flanders’ connection to “divine command theory,” and more. You can read more about the class via The Scotsman.