Description
From Santa, elves and Ebenezer Scrooge, to the culture wars and virgin birth, Christmas - Philosophy for Everyone explores a host of philosophical issues raised by the practices and beliefs surrounding Christmas.
- Offers thoughtful and humorous philosophical insights into the most widely celebrated holiday in the Western world
- Contributions come from a wide range of disciplines, including philosophy, theology, religious studies, English literature, cognitive science and moral psychology
- The essays cover a wide range of Christmas themes, from a defence of the miracle of the virgin birth to the relevance of Christmas to atheists and pagans
Table of Contents
Foreword: Joining the Manger to the Sleigh? (Stephen Nissenbaum).
Editor's Introduction (Scott C. Lowe).
Part I: Christmas: In the Beginning.
1. Jesus, Mary and Hume: On the Possibility of the Virgin Birth (Zachary Jurgensen and Jason Southworth).
2. The Virgin Birth: Authentic Christmas Magic (Victor Lyons).
3. Putting the "Yule" Back in "Yuletide" (Todd Preston).
Part II: Is Celebrating Christmas Really a Good Idea?
4. Armed for the War on Christmas (Scott F. Aiken).
5. Christmas Mythologies: Sacred and Secular (Guy Bennett-Hunter).
6. The Significance of Christmas for Liberal Multiculturalism (Mark Mercer).
7. Crummy Commercials and BB Guns: Son-of-a-Bitch Consumerism in a Christmas Classic (Erin Haire and Dustin Nelson).
Part III: Santa: A Deeper Look.
8. The Mind of Santa Claus and the Metaphors He Lives By (William E. Deal and S. Waller).
9. Making a List, Checking It Twice: The Santa Claus Surveillance System (Richard Hancuff and Noreen O'Connor).
10. You'd Better Watch Out… (Will Williams).
11. Santa's Sweatshop: Elf Exploitation for Christmas (Matthew Brophy).
Part IV: The Morality of Christmas.
12. Against the Santa Clause Lie: The Truth We Should Tell Our Children (David Kyle Johnson).
13. Lying to Children about Santa: Why It's Just Not Wrong (Era Gavrielides).
14. Putting Claus Back into Christmas (Steven D. Hales).
15. Scrooge Learns it All in One Night: Happiness and the Virtues of Christmas (Dane Scott).
Part V: Christmas Through Others' Eyes.
16. Holly Jolly Atheists: A Naturalistic Justification for Christmas (Ruth Tallman).
17. Heaven, Hecate and Hallmark: Christmas in Hindsight (Marion G. Mason).
18. Festivus and the Need for Seasonal Absurdity (Caleb Holt).
19. Common Claus: Santa as Cross-Cultural Connection (Cindy Scheopner).
Afterword (Santa Claus).
Notes on Contributors (Santa's Elves).
