Superman and philosophy: what would the Man of Steel do?

247 Pages·2013·1.46 MB·English

by  William Irwin

Contents
Introduction: It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane … It’s Philosophy!
Part One: THE BIG BLUE BOY SCOUT
Chapter 1: Moral Judgment
The Trinity of Moral Philosophy
But Like Superpowers, Ethics Only Gets You So Far
Tragic Dilemma in Your Pocket (Universe)
I’m Walkin’, Yes Indeed
Superman Did What?
What Makes Superman Human
Chapter 2: Action Comics!
It’s Practically Reasonable
More Powerful Than a Locomotive
We Could Be Heroes …
Superman vs. the Calculator
Faster Than a Speeding Bullet
The Virtues of Being Super
So Whom Does He Save?
Chapter 3: Can the Man of TomorrowBe the Journalist of
Today?
The Face and the Voice
A Reporter’s Story
The Reporter of Steel
Superman Confidential: Seek Truth and Report It
The Big Forget: Act Independently
Wicked Business! Minimize Harm
Fatal Flaw?
Chapter 4: Could Superman Have Joined the Third
Reich?
… Or Not
The Moral Education of a Superman
Superman: Son of the Third Reich
In the End, Hitler Still Loses
Part Two: TRUTH, JUSTICE, AND THE
AMERICAN WAY
Chapter 5: Clark Kent Is Superman!
What Is the Secret?
Superman for President!
The Secret Revealed!
Opening the Shirt
Letting in Lois
In the Vault
Chapter 6: Superman and Justice
It’s All About Personal Liberty
Truth, Libertarian Justice, and the American Way
Great Rawls!
Behind the (Lead-Lined) Veil of Ignorance
Occupy Metropolis
Superman’s Greatest Foe?
Chapter 7: Is Superman an American Icon?
Is Superman Giving Up on the American Way?
My Country, Right or Wrong—But Mostly Right
Can Superman Be a Citizen of the World?
Cosmopolitanism Then and Now
The Appearance of Impropriety
Act Locally, Think Globally
Part Three: THE WILL TO SUPERPOWER
Chapter 8: Rediscovering Nietzsche’s Übermensch in
Superman as a Heroic Ideal
Truth, Justice, and the Nietzschean Way
Putting the Über into the Übermensch
The Nietzschean Superman
Superman vs. Clark Kent
S Is for Savior
Kneel Before Zod!
Perhaps … Lex Luthor?
Nietzschean Übermensch, American Christ, or Both?
Chapter 9: Superman or Last Man
Survival of the Weakest
Introducing Superman—Whether We Need Him or Not
Waiting for Superman
Resignation Superman
Singer vs. Nietzsche
It Ain’t Easy Being Blue
Is He Worth It?
Chapter 10: Superman
Übermensch as Anti-Christ
Lex Luthor: Super-Man?
Jesus Without the Christ
Moral Illumination
Trinitarian Movie Mythos
Is Superman Christ or a Christ-Type?
Seduction of the Innocent?
Chapter 11: Superman Must Be Destroyed!
A Man Who Writes His Own Script
An Iconoclast
One Man Is an Island
The Anti-Hero of Faith
Existentialists Gone Wild!
Part Four: THE ULTIMATE HERO
Chapter 12: Superman’s Revelation
The Never-Ending Battle
Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World2
Kingdom Come
Superman’s Dilemma
Good Violence vs. Bad Violence
Sacred Violence
Caution: Mythology at Work
The Truth About Truth and Justice
Chapter 13: A World Without a Clark Kent?
Goodbye, Clark?
Golden Age Limits
The Humanity of Martha Kent
Jor-El’s Higher Calling
Lex Luthor, Villain or Hero?
Man and Superman
Chapter 14: The Weight of the World
Know Your Role!
Superhindsight
There’s Demanding and Then There’s Demanding
It Ain’t Right, I Tell Ya, It Ain’t Right
The Big Blue Boy Scout
Superman Meets His Match: Supererogatory!
The Weight of the World
Part Five: SUPERMAN AND HUMANITY
Chapter 15: Superman and Man
Mystery of the Bizarro World!
Strange Visitor to Earth-P!
Civilizing Earth-P
The Super-Men of Earth-O!
Humanity’s Greatest Power!
Chapter 16: Can the Man of Steel Feel Our Pain?
Growing Up a Super Boy
Men Are from Earth, Supermen Are from Krypton
Just Another Kid from Smallville
There’s Pain and Then There’s Pain
I Am Curious (Superman)
Kneel Before Zod
What the “S” Really Means
Sympathy for the Hero
Chapter 17: World’s Finest Philosophers
Batman, Hobbes, and the War of All Against All
Batman and the Sovereign
The Most Perfect Line
You Matter—To Me
Securing Recognition
Batman or Superman? Hobbes or Hegel?
Part Six: OF SUPERMAN AND SUPERMINDS
Chapter 18: “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s … Clark Kent?”
The Question-Begger, the Greatest Villain in Philosophy
Is It My Super-Body?
Memories of You, Superman
Hole-y Personality Superman!
Would the Real Superman Please Stand Up!
So Let’s Give Lois a Break!
Chapter 19: Superman Family Resemblance
The Eternal Superman
The Challenge of the Supermen
Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Family Values
But Families Also Disagree a Lot
Having Fun With Big Blue
Chapter 20: Why Superman Should Not Be Able to Read
Minds
The Mind of Superman
Great Caesar’s Ghost: The Problem of Other Minds!
Solving the Kryptonian Knot
What Are You Thinking?
Zombie Superman: Even Worse Than Bizarro
Too Close for Comfort
Luthor’s Razor
Forget It, Supes
Contributors: Trapped in the Philosophy Zone
Index: From Brainiac’s Files
The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series
Series Editor: William Irwin
A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, and a healthy helping of
popular culture clears the cobwebs from Kant. Philosophy has had a public
relations problem for a few centuries now. This series aims to change that,
showing that philosophy is relevant to your life—and not just for answering the
big questions like “To be or not to be?” but for answering the little questions:
“To watch or not to watch South Park?” Thinking deeply about TV, movies, and
music doesn’t make you a “complete idiot.” In fact it might make you a
philosopher, someone who believes the unexamined life is not worth living and
the unexamined cartoon is not worth watching.
Already published in the series:
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Wizard, and Your Way
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