A book about The Office, (American and British versions in the same book!) You can pre-order form Amazon.com here.


Book Description

The latest book in the Philosophy and Pop Culture series targets one of the funniest and insightful television shows ever: The Office

Is Michael Scott in denial about death? What can Gareth Keenan teach us about reason? Is Dwight Schrute better off deceiving himself? These and many other philosophical investigations bring readers face-to-face with humanity's deepest questions, especially those concerning Jim and Pam's feelings for one another. Exploring both its original British version and its current American incarnation, the 20 essays collected here take readers on a mind-expanding frolic through the mundane yet surprisingly edifying world of The Office.

J. Jeremy Wisnewski (Oneonta, NY) is an Assistant Professor at Hartwick College and the author of monographs on Wittgenstein as well as the editor of Family Guy and Philosophy (978-1-4051-6316-3).

From the Back Cover
Just when you thought paper couldn’t be more exciting, this book comes your way! This book—jammed full of paper—unites philosophy with one of the best shows ever: The Office. Addressing both the current American incarnation and the original British version, The Office and Philosophy brings these two wonders of civilization together for a frolic through the mundane yet curiously edifying worlds of Scranton’s Dunder-Mifflin and Slough’s Wernham-Hogg.


Is Michael Scott in denial about death? Are Pam and Jim ever going to figure things out? Is David Brent an essentialist? Surprisingly, The Office can teach us about the mind, Aristotle, and humiliation. Even more surprisingly, paper companies can allow us to better understand business ethics. Don’t believe it? Open this book, and behold its beautiful paper…


Join the philosophical fray as we explore the abstract world of philosophy through concrete scenes of the unexamined life in The Office. You may discover that Gareth Keenan is secretly a brilliant logician, that Dwight Schrute is better off deceiving himself, that David Brent is an example of hyperreality, and that Michael Scott is hopelessly lost (but you probably already knew that!).

That sounds an awful lot like the work of someone we all know and love

Thanks, mixed! I think I'll order it.

That looks very interesting...I may have to buy it.

Hey . . . . you're right!

I bought this book last night. It's pretty fascinating. I already read the sections on Jim and Pam (shocker, huh?), and they were very interesting, (when I get a chance, I'll post some of the ideas in the book on the JP/PD). I took a bunch of philosophy classes when I was in college, so it's fun to see philosophical applications applied to The Office. The book is overwhelmingly geared towards the U.S. version, but there are some great sections on the British version. It's clear this was written by a team of fans. They write about the subject with a lot of love and humor.

I completely forgot about ordering this. Thanks for the reminder SB