Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Thanks to Some Real Achievers xi
Introduction: Sometimes There’s a Film 1
PART ONE FIRST ROUND ROBIN: TYING IT ALL TOGETHER, OR NOT
1. What Would the Dude Do? Deconstructing the Dude 7 Joseph A. Zeccardi and Hilda H. Ma
2. The Big Lebowski and Mathematical Logic 24 Craig Jackson
PART TWO SECOND ROUND ROBIN: THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITION, OR FROM SOCRATES TO SANDY KOUFAX
3. The Dude Abides, but Does He Flourish? 39 Jason T. Eberl
4. “Man Down!”: Aristotle, Epicurus, and the Dude on Friendship and Solidarity 55 Ian O’Loughlin
5. Epicurus and “Contented Poverty”: The Big Lebowski as Epicurean Parable 67 Morgan Rempel
6. Buddhism, Daoism, and Dudeism 79 Joseph J. Lynch
PART THREE THIRD ROUND ROBIN: OVER THE LINE!
7. Drawing a Line in the Sand: Rules of Aggression in The Big Lebowski 93 David Svolba and Adam Betz
8. “That Ain’t Legal Either”: Rules, Virtue, and Authenticity in The Big Lebowski 106 Troy Jollimore and Robert C. Jones
PART FOUR FOURTH ROUND ROBIN: NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OF
9. Bowling Our Way out of Nihilism 123 Jeffery Nicholas
10. Existentialism, Absurdity, and The Big Lebowski 136 Bryan N. Baird
11. Bowling, Despair, and American Nihilism 147 Evan Brown and Peter S. Fosl
PART FIVE FIFTH ROUND ROBIN: WHAT MAKES A DUDE?
12. The Big Lebowski’s Oedipal Complex 161 Roger Hunt
13. In the Dude, I Abide: Being an Achiever at Lebowski Fest 174 Julie Dufort and Roseline Lemire-Cadieux
14. “Mr. Treehorn Treats Objects Like Women, Man”: The Dude as Feminist Ally 190 Ben Almassi
15. “Well, I Do Work, Sir”: The Dude and the Value of Sloth 207 Nicolas Michaud
PART SIX SIXTH ROUND ROBIN: MARK IT ZERO!
16. “Am I Wrong?”: Walter’s Will to Believe 221 Daniel P. Malloy
17. “That’s Just Like, Uh, Your Opinion, Man”: Jesus, the Dude, and Ordinary Language Philosophy 237 Reuben Stern and Sam Wilkinson
PART SEVEN SEVENTH ROUND ROBIN: LIVIN’ IN THE PAST
18. Hippies, Jews, and the Philosophy of Memory 251 Clancy Smith
19. “I Don’t Roll on Shabbas!”: Jewish Identity and the Meaning of History in The Big Lebowski 262 Joseph A. Edelheit
CONTRIBUTORS: The Rest of the Dude’s Bowling Team 275
INDEX: Little of This, Little of That 283
