Big Lebowski Philosophy

Is abiding a virtue?
Does Walter's aggression illustrate the principles of just war theory?
Does bowling help Donny, Walter, and the Dude resist nihilism?
Does the Dude exemplify the Taoist way of life?
Is the Dude a feminist ally?
In the morally corrupt world of The Big Lebowski, the Dude emerges as a beacon of integrity, authenticity, and virtue. He is a philosopher's hero who struggles to live the good life in spite of assault, rug peeing, an apparent kidnapping, and the death of a friend? and The Big Lebowski and Philosophy unpacks the deeper meaning of it all. Enlisting the help of great thinkers like Plato, Nietzsche, Aristotle, Gö del, Derrida, Freud, Wittgenstein, and Epicurus, the book explores the Dude's pacifism and Walter's warrior instincts, the class war between unemployed bums and capitalist achievers, and how leisure is an essential part of our human existence. Read this book and you'll know why The Big Lebowski is one of the greatest existentialist movies of all time. But that's just, you know, our opin

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Thanks to Some Real Achievers xi
Introduction: Sometimes There's a Film 1
PART ONE FIRST ROUND ROBIN: TYING IT ALL TOGETHER, OR NOT
1. What Would the Dude Do? Deconstructing the Dude 7
Joseph A. Zeccardi and Hilda H. Ma
2. The Big Lebowski and Mathematical Logic 24
Craig Jackson
PART TWO SECOND ROUND ROBIN: THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITION, OR FROM SOCRATES TO SANDY KOUFAX
3. The Dude Abides, but Does He Flourish? 39
Jason T. Eberl
4. "Man Down!": Aristotle, Epicurus, and the Dude on Friendship and Solidarity 55
Ian O'Loughlin
5. Epicurus and "Contented Poverty": The Big Lebowski as Epicurean Parable 67
Morgan Rempel
6. Buddhism, Daoism, and Dudeism 79
Joseph J. Lynch
PART THREE THIRD ROUND ROBIN: OVER THE LINE!
7. Drawing a Line in the Sand: Rules of Aggression in The Big Lebowski 93
David Svolba and Adam Betz
8. "That Ain't Legal Either": Rules, Virtue, and Authenticity in The Big Lebowski 106
Troy Jollimore and Robert C. Jones
PART FOUR FOURTH ROUND ROBIN: NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF
9. Bowling Our Way out of Nihilism 123
Jeffery Nicholas
10. Existentialism, Absurdity, and The Big Lebowski 136
Bryan N. Baird
11. Bowling, Despair, and American Nihilism 147
Evan Brown and Peter S. Fosl
PART FIVE FIFTH ROUND ROBIN: WHAT MAKES A DUDE?
12. The Big Lebowski's Oedipal Complex 161
Roger Hunt
13. In the Dude, I Abide: Being an Achiever at Lebowski Fest 174
Julie Dufort and Roseline Lemire-Cadieux
14. "Mr. Treehorn Treats Objects Like Women, Man": The Dude as Feminist Ally 190
Ben Almassi
15. "Well, I Do Work, Sir": The Dude and the Value of Sloth 207
Nicolas Michaud
PART SIX SIXTH ROUND ROBIN: MARK IT ZERO!
16. "Am I Wrong?": Walter's Will to Believe 221
Daniel P. Malloy
17. "That's Just Like, Uh, Your Opinion, Man": Jesus, the Dude, and Ordinary Language Philosophy 237
Reuben Stern and Sam Wilkinson
PART SEVEN SEVENTH ROUND ROBIN: LIVIN' IN THE PAST
18. Hippies, Jews, and the Philosophy of Memory 251
Clancy Smith
19. "I Don't Roll on Shabbas!": Jewish Identity and the Meaning of History in The Big Lebowski 262
Joseph A. Edelheit
CONTRIBUTORS: The Rest of the Dude's Bowling Team 275
INDEX: Little of This, Little of That 283