Hit the lights and jump in the fire, you're about to enter the School of Rock!

Today's lecture will be a crash course in brain surgery. This hard and fast lesson is taught by instructors who graduated from the old school-they actually paid $5.98 for The $5.98 EP. But back before these philosophy professors cut their hair, they were lieutenants in the Metal Militia.

• A provocative study of the 'thinking man's' metal band
• Maps out the connections between Aristotle, Nietzsche, Marx, Kierkegaard, and Metallica, to demonstrate the band's philosophical significance
• Uses themes in Metallica's work to illuminate topics such as freedom, truth, identity, existentialism, questions of life and death, metaphysics, epistemology, the mind-body problem, morality, justice, and what we owe one another
• Draws on Metallica's lyrical content, Lars Ulrich's relationship with Napster, as well as the documentary Some Kind of Monster
• Serves as a guide for thinking through the work of one of the greatest rock bands of all time
• Compiled by the editor of Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing and The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer

About the Author
William Irwin is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at King's College, Pennsylvania. He has edited Seinfeld and Philosophy: A Book about Everything and Nothing; The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer (with Mark T. Conard and Aeon J. Skoble); and Critical Thinking: A Student's Introduction (with Gregory Bassham, H. Nardone, and J. Wallace). He is also the author of Intentionalist Interpretation: A Philosophical Explanation and Defense and editor of The Death and Resurrection of the Author.

Reviews
"The most elucidative dissertation on Metallica ever written. And a kick-ass read to boot!!!"
Scott Ian, guitarist for Anthrax

"Like philosophy itself, Metallica's music can scare the uninitiated, who fear their brains will hurt. This book makes both philosophy and Metallica accessible to the curious while deepening the experience of those already in the know."
Theodore Gracyk, author of Rhythm and Noise and Listening to Popular Music

"Metallica and Philosophy is, at long last, the book which finally gives everyone's favorite headbangers due credit for being intelligent, questioning, and even cerebral."
Joel McIver, author of Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica

"Not just heavy metal, not just rock n' roll, not just angst or anger or conceptual analysis, but a monster in a category of its own that shows us something dangerous about ourselves and our post-industrial culture."
Dale Jacquette, Pennsylvania State University

"Intellectual snobs and proud low-brows alike may dismiss this as a joke- though obviously not respected academic publishers Blackwell ... as an introduction to some of the major schools of thought, it is no less worthy than popular books like Sophie's World that have also sought to bring philosophy to the mass market."
Tommy Udo, Metal Hammer

A "provocative study" on one of metal's greatest bands, this paperback examines the connection between Metallica and highly regarded philosophers like Aristotle and Nietzsche, and "uses themes in Metallica's work to illuminate topics such as death, metaphysics, epistemology, the mind-body problem, morality, justice and what we owe one another." Edited by a college professor, chapters include "Alcoholica: When Sweet Amber Becomes The Master Of Puppets," "To Live and Die: Metallica and The Meaning Of Life" and "Boys Interrupted: The Drama Of Male Bonding In Some Kind Of Monster."
Metal Edge Magazine

Book Information
ISBN 9781405163484
Author William Irwin
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Wiley-Blackwell
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 390g
Dimensions(mm) 231mm * 154mm * 17mm