Futurama and Philosophy

Futurama is a quirky, animated sitcom created by Simpson’s mastermind, Matt Groening. It follows the adventures of a pizza delivery man transported far, far into a cosmic future of witty, sarcastic robots and one-eyed femme fatales. Since first airing on the Fox network from 1999 to 2003, Futurama’s many dedicated fans created websites and newsletters and organized Comic-Con meetups and letter-writing campaigns in hopes of learning the further adventures of Bender, Leela, Dr. Farnsworth, and the deliveryman Philip J. Fry. In the meantime, fans survived on syndicated re-runs, books, wall calendars, and four feature-length movies released on DVD and online streaming.In 2009, Fox announced that Futurama would have a future and new episodes returned to Comedy Central channel. Futurama and Philosophy will meet this new surge of interest and popularity in its Popular Culture and Philosophy series. Twenty-first-century philosophers and Futurama fans can compare notes about time travel, alternate universes, the evolution of life, artificial intelligence, and the ethical dilemmas of suicide booths, “mad” scientists like Farnsworth and robots like Bender who aspire to bad taste and “kiss-my-metal-ass” rudeness. Would “interplanetary golf” really be possible? Why is it that a fossilized dog is really “man’s best friend”? What is going on inside Dr. Zoidberg’s Freedom Lesson? Why is Bender, in fact, a responsible moral being? Is Death Intrinsically Bad? And what’s with the “Seriously Freaked Up Nature of Morality” exhibited in the show?Fans who appreciate the wit and wisdom Futurama’s characters, and especially the cosmic, existential framework in which their adventures unfold, will find Futurama and Philosophy to be a unique and lasting contribution to the Futurama reviva—at least until Philip J. Fry is unfrozen.