<em>Mad Men</em> and Philosophy: Nothing Is as It Seems

Mad Men and Philosophy: Nothing Is as It Seems

Description

With its swirling cigarette smoke, martini lunches, skinny ties, and tight pencil skirts, Mad Men is unquestionably one of the most stylish, sexy, and irresistible shows on television. But the series becomes even more absorbing once you dig deeper into its portrayal of the changing social and political mores of 1960s America and explore the philosophical complexities of its key characters and themes. From Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle to John Kenneth Galbraith, Milton Friedman, and Ayn Rand, Mad Men and Philosophy brings the thinking of some of history's most powerful minds to bear on the world of Don Draper and the Sterling Cooper ad agency. You'll gain insights into a host of compelling Mad Men questions and issues, including happiness, freedom, authenticity, feminism, Don Draper's identity, and more.

  • Takes an unprecedented look at the philosophical issues and themes behind AMC's Emmy Award-winning show, Mad Men
  • Explores issues ranging from identity to authenticity to feminism, and more
  • Offers new insights on your favorite Mad Men characters, themes, and storylines

Mad Men and Philosophy will give Mad Men fans everywhere something new to talk about around the water cooler.

ISBN

978-0-470-60301-7

Publication Date

2010

Publisher

John Wiley and Sons

City

Hoboken, NJ

Disciplines

Philosophy

Comments

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART ONE 1. What Fools We Were: Mad Men, Hindsight, and Justification

2. “People Want to Be Told What to Do So Badly That They’ll Listen to Anyone”: Mimetic Madness at Sterling Cooper

3. Capitalism and Freedom in the Affluent Society

PART TWO

4. Pete, Peggy, Don, and the Dialectic of Remembering and Forgetting

5. The Existential Void of Roger Sterling

6. Egoless Egoists: The Second-Hand Lives of Mad Men

7. An Existential Look at Mad Men: Don Draper, Advertising, and the Promise of Happiness

PART THREE

8. “In on It”: Honesty, Respect, and the Ethics of Advertising

9. Creating the Need for the New: “It’s Not the Wheel. It’s the Carousel”

10. “You’re Looking in the Wrong Direction”: Mad Men and the Ethics of Advertising

11. Is Don Draper a Good Man?

12. Don Draper, on How to Make Oneself (Whole Again)

PART FOUR

13. “And Nobody Understands That, but You Do”: The Aristotelian Ideal of Friendship among the Mad Men (and Women)

14. Mad Women: Aristotle, Second-Wave Feminism, and the Women of Mad Men

15. “We’ve Got Bigger Problems to Worry about Than TV, Okay?” Mad Men and Race

16. “New York City Is a Marvelous Machine”: Mad Men and the Power of Social Convention

Appendix

Contributors

Index

<em>Mad Men</em> and Philosophy: Nothing Is as It Seems

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