Bruces' Philosophers Song
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Bruces' Philosophers Song (Bruces' Song) was a popular Monty Python song written by Eric Idle, a feature of the group's stage appearances as well as of its recordings, and ostensibly rendered by a number of Australian university lecturers. They were all called Bruce and taught at the Philosophical Department of the University of Woolloomooloo. (Woolloomooloo is an inner suburb of Sydney. There is actually no university there, though the real-life Sydney University is not far away.) Although the Bruces sketch previously appeared in the TV show Monty Python's Flying Circus, the song itself was original to the stage show.
The song's lyrics make a series of scurrilous allegations against a number of highly respected philosophers, usually with regard to their capacity or incapacity for imbibing intoxicating liquors.
For a long time, opinion has been divided as to whether the sixth line is "Both Schopenhauer and Hegel" or just "Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel". However, the publication of the lyrics with the release of Monty Python Sings clarifies this to Hegel as the "official" lyrics. The reason for the confusion was that early versions of the song played live (included in the Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl film and on the albums Live at Drury Lane and Live at City Center) had the "Schopenhauer and Hegel" version.
All the thinkers whom the song mentions were dead by the time it appeared, apart from Martin Heidegger.
Philosophers mentioned in the song (in order):
- Immanuel Kant
- Martin Heidegger
- David Hume
- Arthur Schopenhauer (disputed)
- G.W.F. Hegel
- Ludwig Wittgenstein
- Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Socrates (the only one mentioned twice in the song)
- John Stuart Mill
- Plato
- Aristotle
- Thomas Hobbes
- René Descartes
[edit] Trivia
Some of the philosophers are actually portrayed accurately according to their works. For instance, Kant being "very rarely stable" harkens to his theory of a stable universe. Similarly, John Stuart Mill becoming ill "on his own free will" alludes to his work On Liberty, which argues for liberty that does no harm to others.
