--- title: The Simpsons Class Offered at University of Glasgow description: There's no better way for universities to get high class enrollment than offering a class on a wildly successful pop culture phenomenon canonical: https://time.com/4573080/simpsons-philosophy-university-class/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-16T15:49:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T01:51:05.909Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Now There's a Class on the Philosophy of 'The Simpsons' og:description: The University of Glasgow will offer the one-day course og:url: https://time.com/4573080/simpsons-philosophy-university-class/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6612b9aded128e59/6986a5caadae44110554531d/simpsons-death.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3995 og:image:height: 2247 og:image:alt: simpsons-death og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Now There's a Class on the Philosophy of 'The Simpsons' twitter:description: The University of Glasgow will offer the one-day course twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6612b9aded128e59/6986a5caadae44110554531d/simpsons-death.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Now There's a Class on the Philosophy of _The Simpsons_ > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Nov 16, 2016 3:49 PM UTC  THE SIMPSONS: The town of Springfield is shocked when Krusty announces his plans to retire from show business in the all-new ÒClown in the DumpsÓ milestone season 26 premiere episode of THE SIMPSONS airing Sunday, Sept. 28 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX. THE SIMPSONS ªÊand © 2014 TCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THE SIMPSONS: The town of Springfield is shocked when Krusty announces his plans to retire from show business in the all-new ÒClown in the DumpsÓ milestone season 26 premiere episode of THE SIMPSONS airing Sunday, Sept. 28 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX. THE SIMPSONS ªÊand © 2014 TCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.CR; FOX by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Nov 16, 2016 3:49 PM UTC There’s no better way for universities to get high class enrollment (not to mention plenty of publicity) than offering a class on a wildly successful pop culture phenomenon. See: Classes on the [career trajectories of Kanye West and Jay Z](http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/01/university-of-missouri-offers-class-on-jay-z-and-kanye-wests-relationship/), the [chemistry of _Harry Potter_](http://college.usatoday.com/2014/02/07/harry-potter-still-working-magic-at-muggle-colleges-through-classes-organizations/) and the [foreign policy lessons of ](https://trinity.duke.edu/house-courses/2016/HOUSECS59.13)[_The West Wing_](https://trinity.duke.edu/house-courses/2016/HOUSECS59.13). Now the University of Glasgow is getting in on the fun with a class on philosophy as seen through the lens of [_The Simpsons_](http://www.scotsman.com/glasgow/homer-simpson-philosophy-offered-at-university-of-glasgow-1-4287911). The one-day class is called “D’oh! The Simpsons Introduce Philosophy,” and it will take place in January, [the _Scotsman_](http://www.scotsman.com/glasgow/homer-simpson-philosophy-offered-at-university-of-glasgow-1-4287911) reports. John Donaldson, a tutor of philosophy who created the course, calls the show “a very sophisticated work of popular culture, with a broad scope and depth, and is full of philosophical themes.” Among the topics considered will be whether Aristotle would consider Homer Simpson a virtuous figure, and the question of free will as seen through an episode in which Bart gets into a gifted program after cheating on a test. **_Gifts:_** [**_The 100 Most Influential Images of All Time_**](http://shop.time.com/storefront/subscribe-to-time/link/1039114.html?xid=cm-TIMEShopscTIMEArticle) \[[_The Scotsman_](http://www.scotsman.com/glasgow/homer-simpson-philosophy-offered-at-university-of-glasgow-1-4287911)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4573080/simpsons-philosophy-university-class/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4573080/simpsons-philosophy-university-class/"},"headline":"Now There's a Class on the Philosophy of The Simpsons","datePublished":"2016-11-16T15:49:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:51:05.909Z","description":"The University of Glasgow will offer the one-day course","url":"https://time.com/4573080/simpsons-philosophy-university-class/","keywords":["Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6612b9aded128e59/6986a5caadae44110554531d/simpsons-death.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6612b9aded128e59/6986a5caadae44110554531d/simpsons-death.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"simpsons-death","caption":"THE SIMPSONS: The town of Springfield is shocked when Krusty announces his plans to retire from show business in the all-new ÒClown in the DumpsÓ milestone season 26 premiere episode of THE SIMPSONS airing Sunday, Sept. 28 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX.","creditText":"CR; FOX","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4573080/simpsons-philosophy-university-class/","name":"Now There's a Class on the Philosophy of The Simpsons"}}]}] ```