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Santa Claus is Real: A Philosophical Polemic

13 min readDec 13, 2022

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By Matthew A. MacDonald

Santa Claus by William Holbrook Beard, c. 1862

Should parents tell their children that Santa Claus is nothing but a myth, or even an outright lie? A story based on a real historical figure but nothing more? A pagan invention? A commercial or secular distraction from the real meaning of Christmas, or something even more insidious? No, and I’m going to tell you why.

Santa painting by Scott Westmoreland, used with permission.

I have nothing but fond memories of Santa Claus. When I was four years old, he gave me my first camera for Christmas. It was a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye box camera and I remember taking pictures with it everywhere I went. I stayed up late one Christmas Eve when I was about seven, camera in hand, ready to bound down the stairs and catch Santa in the act — on film! Alas, I fell asleep before I got the chance.

An early 20th century ad for Kodak. Source: The Normal Eye

Christmas was a magical time for me growing up. A big part of that magic was Santa (and all the Christmas lights, the snow, and going to church on Christmas Eve and lighting candles and singing Silent Night, but this story is about Santa). I…

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Matthew A. MacDonald
Matthew A. MacDonald

Written by Matthew A. MacDonald

Husband, father, filmmaker, philosopher. I write about almost anything, but mostly movies, poetry, and philosophy.

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