Jim Henson and Philosophy

February 22, 2016
This collection of philosophical essays about Jim Henson is as entertainingâand enlighteningâas the best episodes of the Muppet Show. Academics Dale and Foy feel that "if the belief that ideas can change the world is what makes a person a philosopher, then Jim Henson has to be counted as one of the great philosophers of our time." By exploring the entertaining, educational, and "profound" world of Henson's creations in television and film, the essays, by a range of noted scholars, also examine the many ways in which puppets "are distinctively philosophical beings." Essays include Henson's social and philosophical lessons ("Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?: The Importance of Community on Sesame Street" by Foy), knowledge and logic ("Finding Fallacies Funny: How Sesame Street's Playing with Mistakes in Reasoning Makes Learning Fun" by Sheryl Tuttle Ross), ethical themes (Natalie M. Fletcher's "My (Un)Fair Lady: Power, Fairness and Moral Imagination in Labyrinth"), and his approach to the meaning of existence ("The Passion, Will, and Freedom of Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Animal" by Shaun Leonard). One of the best essaysâand one that embodies the book's combination of insight, intelligence, and funâconcerns Samantha Brennan's "Miss Piggy's Feminism: Redefining Human Relationships through Martial Arts," which shows how Miss Piggy was a third-wave feminist in second-wave times, "a body-confident role model for women and swine of all shapes and sizes."