Nagel
Original: Nagel on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Woman with reddish-brown hair: "Why do we need to read original old philosophy works? Modern summaries are always clearer."
Panel 2:
A second person (with reddish-brown hair, glasses, seen from behind): "Are you familiar with Thomas Nagel?"
The second person: "The greatest 20th century philosopher of consciousness?"
(In the background, a third woman with glasses sits at a desk.)
Panel 3:
The woman at the desk (glasses): AHEM. "'...even a chicken might be called perverted in an extended sense if it had been conditioned to develop a fetishistic attachment to a telephone.' (Nagel, 1969)"
Panel 4:
The second person: "Wait. The point of reading masterworks is to find quotations that can be taken out of context?"
The woman at the desk (off-panel, silhouettes shown): "We are drawn to them, like a horny chicken to a dial tone."
Bottom banner:
PATREON.COM/ZACHWEINERSMITH SMBC-COMICS.COM
Our two new books PARENTING - an SMBC collection and SAWYER LEE AND THE QUEST TO JUST STAY HOME are available on Kickstarter during May 2026!
(Book covers shown: "PARENTING" by Zach Weinersmith, and "SAWYER LEE AND THE QUEST TO JUST STAY HOME" by Zach Weinersmith.)
Votey:
A simple line drawing of a duck/bird-like creature with a long neck and flame-like tuft of feathers on its head, looking toward a faint sketch of what appears to be itself or another shape (largely blank/minimal).
Woman with reddish-brown hair: "Why do we need to read original old philosophy works? Modern summaries are always clearer."
Panel 2:
A second person (with reddish-brown hair, glasses, seen from behind): "Are you familiar with Thomas Nagel?"
The second person: "The greatest 20th century philosopher of consciousness?"
(In the background, a third woman with glasses sits at a desk.)
Panel 3:
The woman at the desk (glasses): AHEM. "'...even a chicken might be called perverted in an extended sense if it had been conditioned to develop a fetishistic attachment to a telephone.' (Nagel, 1969)"
Panel 4:
The second person: "Wait. The point of reading masterworks is to find quotations that can be taken out of context?"
The woman at the desk (off-panel, silhouettes shown): "We are drawn to them, like a horny chicken to a dial tone."
Bottom banner:
PATREON.COM/ZACHWEINERSMITH SMBC-COMICS.COM
Our two new books PARENTING - an SMBC collection and SAWYER LEE AND THE QUEST TO JUST STAY HOME are available on Kickstarter during May 2026!
(Book covers shown: "PARENTING" by Zach Weinersmith, and "SAWYER LEE AND THE QUEST TO JUST STAY HOME" by Zach Weinersmith.)
Votey:
A simple line drawing of a duck/bird-like creature with a long neck and flame-like tuft of feathers on its head, looking toward a faint sketch of what appears to be itself or another shape (largely blank/minimal).
Alt text
A four-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1: A woman with reddish-brown hair says, "Why do we need to read original old philosophy works? Modern summaries are always clearer." Panel 2: A second person asks, "Are you familiar with Thomas Nagel? The greatest 20th century philosopher of consciousness?" while a third woman in glasses sits at a desk in the background. Panel 3: The woman at the desk adjusts her glasses and recites a real-sounding Nagel quote: "AHEM. '...even a chicken might be called perverted in an extended sense if it had been conditioned to develop a fetishistic attachment to a telephone.' (Nagel, 1969)". Panel 4 (black background with silhouettes): The second person realizes, "Wait. The point of reading masterworks is to find quotations that can be taken out of context?" and the reply comes, "We are drawn to them, like a horny chicken to a dial tone." The joke: the supposed value of reading philosophy in the original is mining absurd quotable lines out of context. Below is a promo banner for SMBC books PARENTING and SAWYER LEE AND THE QUEST TO JUST STAY HOME on Kickstarter during May 2026. The votey (bonus panel) is a minimal line drawing of a long-necked duck-like bird with a flame-like tuft of feathers on its head, gazing at a faint, mostly blank sketch.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.