Anybody Who’s Not a Philosopher Is an Asshole
- by Paul Ditta

Is this just an attempt to shock and titillate? The idea of iconic children’s imagery sexually debased for the amusement of adolescents is a perennial favourite on the exercise books of schoolboys across the globe. The idea of juxtaposing the innocent image of Snow White and a masturbatory fantasy straight from the pages of a top shelf magazine is done to death, surely?
Well, yes. But then we look a little closer. They are spouting philosophical asides as they do so. Not just philosophy, but the specific statements of Wittgenstein, the Austrian philosopher/logician. What is being conveyed here is deeper than the titillation of schoolboys.

Debasement and distraction are the themes here. The icons presented are being destroyed before our eyes. What child could ever watch Snow White again after a demonstration of her masturbatory ejaculation? Would Aladdin be the same after the bestial encounter shown here? And what would a pre-schooler think of Alice in Wonderland after seeing the lascivious pleasure on The Mad Hatter’s face at taking young Alice from behind?
Anal sex, bestiality, the extremities of “acceptable” sexual behaviour are pushed and then shredded and characters, the very epitome of innocence and chastity, are mauled, fucked, groped, buggered and stripped of all their glamour. But to what end? And why are they spouting philosophy?

Perhaps this is a comment on the nature of the introspective disciplines: art, like philosophy and music inspire and colour the human experience and give weight and meaning to our civilisations. However, come the barbarian hordes, come the raiders at the walls of civilisation and art and philosophy must give way to weapons and the ancient science of killing. We have created a world where we can engage in activities that do not feed, warm or protect us in any material way.
But these pieces show the consequences of failing to respond practically to the forces that would destroy us. Every civilisation carries the spore of its own destruction with it.
The civilisations that survive are those that recognise this and take steps to protect themselves, inoculate, if you will, from the viruses they carry. So, the characters speak at length, quoting the words of a respected philosopher, but they are destroyed all the same. They are torn down whilst still contemplating when they should have taken up arms and protected themselves.

Anyone who is not a philosopher is an asshole. Indeed, but faced against an army of enemies, philosophy will not protect you, nor will it feed you or clothe you alone. The failure of philosophy to protect these icons from debasement does not make a lie of Wittgenstein’s quote; it just makes the point that sometimes we need assholes in the world, if only to preserve the Wittgenstein’s of this world to delve the deeper truths.