Dude. What in the name of nothingness are you talking about?

You're French, Sartre. You wouldn't understand.

Just being silly.

Pretty sure Tolkien is English, Hölderlin.

Is silliness compatible with your mode of being in the world?

I like to disrupt expectations.

Surprised you're referencing Tolkien, H. Isn't he kind of Thomistic in his metaphysics?

Regrettably, yes. Tolkien assumes the medieval, superficial concept of being.

Maybe. I reckon a Heideggerian analysis of Dasein in The Lord of the Rings would be very interesting and possibly insightful.

Hell is other hobbits.

Go away, Sartre.

What are you thinking?

Well, time is a crucial theme in the books, and Tolkien actually relates time to Dasein pretty explicitly. Consider how dwelling in Lothlórien causes time to pass differently and events to carry different meaning. Some potential there.

Looks like our man Heidegger shows up in the Lord of the Rings and Philosophy book.

Hey. Those things sell! I should contribute an essay!

You're trolling me now, aren't you?

Maaaybeee.

I don't know, Bert. I see the magical element as a unifying principle that the show writers use to bring the Dasein in the classroom to the multiple worlds of science—present, past, and future.

What are "magic" and "science"? Do these words not contain traces of one another?

Not in the least, Jacques.

I'm afraid to say, Martin, that the magic in the show is no mere metaphor or instrument; it is quite literally happening, in a make-believe way, of course. Science and magic should have nothing to do with each other. The Magic School Bus corrupts the youth.

Where did Ms. Frizzle get her powers, anyway?

I don't remember. My theory: she made a deal with a demon at a crossroads, and in ten years, hellhounds will come for her soul.

Someone here's been watching too much Supernatural.

Really, Martin. Not everything is being-towards-death, you know.

Wrong. It is the inescapable destiny of Dasein.

Uh huh. I just want to know what the parental permission slips Ms. Frizzle sends home say.

Has anyone ever died on the show, Martin? Perhaps Ms. Frizzle is immortal. Perhaps her being deconstructs your obsession with death.

If so, then she is god and of the fourfold, and not Dasein.

He shoots, he scores. Burn, Bertrand!

The fourfold?

Yes. The unity of how we dwell in the world. On the earth and under stars, with other people and before divinities.

And in magic school buses!

Tell me again that you're an atheist.