The "Beatles" and Philosophy (Popular Culture and Philosophy): Nothing You Can Think that Can't Be Thunk: 25 (Popular Culture and Philosophy, 25)

by Michael Baur (Editor), Michael Baur (Editor), Steven A. Baur (Editor)

• New

  Paperback
  2006

  $18.42

  The most popular musical group of all time, the Beatles also brought serious thought to the bubble gum-scented world of pop and rock music, with adventurous, profound, and sometimes mysterious lyrics that veered from the deliberate absurdity of I Am the Walrus to the rosy Rousseau-like fantasy of When I'm 64 to the darkly existential/nihilist visions of Eleanor Rigby and A Day in the Life. In this lively new book, 20 Beatles-loving philosophers offer fresh insight into the lives and words of the Fab Four. Among the topics investigated are the groups' critique of consumer culture; John Lennon and the Cold War; Paul McCartney's philosophy of love, community, and politics; the Beatles' struggle against the inauthentic; the ethics of chemically changed states of consciousness; the metaphysical standing of popularized Eastern meditation; and skepticism in the Beatles' worldview. Like earlier titles in this popular series, The Beatles and Philosophy discusses complex issues in an enjoyable, highly readable fashion.