Coming in November is Peanuts and Philosophy, a book of twenty essays exploring philosophical matters in or through Peanuts. I’d be a bit more excited if at this point this wasn’t an industry, doing “and Philosophy” books on any pop culture phenomenon. (Just as examples, the two editors of this have been involved, together or singly, in The Princess Bride and Philosophy, The Sopranos and Philosophy, Quentin Tarantino and Philosophy, Dexter and Philosophy, Orange is the New Black and Philosophy, Orphan Black and Philosophy, The Golden Compass and Philosophy, Boardwalk Empire and Philosophy, Girls and Philosophy, and more.) One senses the creation of this book is less a case of inspiration and more one of industry…. which is in some ways a shame because it’s not as if Peanuts isn’t particularly rife for such exploration; it is at times very thematically and deliberately philosophical, and even when it isn’t there is still much to be found there. The real question is whether they’ll have found essayists who find inspiration in their own way

(But the good news is that, good or bad, this will hardly be the only exploration out there on Peanuts and philosophy, as the heavily religous-oriented Peanuts essay books and their more secular cousins have existed for half a century now.)

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