Batman and Philosophy

MARK D. WHITE is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, Economics, and Philosophy at the College of Staten Island/CUNY. ROBERT ARP is a postdoctoral research associate through the National Center for Biomedical Ontology at the University at Buffalo, and edited South Park and Philosophy. WILLIAM IRWIN is a professor of philosophy at King's College. He originated the philosophy and pop culture gentre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles, including Watchmen and Philosophy, House and Philosophy, and Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy.

In this, the latest in Wiley’s Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series (South Park and Philosophy, The Office and…, Metallica and…), editors White and Arp assert upfront, and without qualification (apparently, that’s the contributors’ job), their belief that Batman is “the most complex character ever to appear in comic books and graphic novels.” Exploring certain works that have broadened the philosophical undercurrents of the Batman mythos (Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns are cited often, but rarely the new movies), a raft of professors, students and PhD candidates paint Bruce Wayne’s choices as, most often, either utilitarian or deontological, with basic descriptions of these systems helpfully provided for the novice. A few contributions broaden the discussion beyond the well-worn (origin stories of Batman and foes, etc.); casting butler Alfred as Kierkegaard’s “knight of faith” to Batman’s “knight of infinite resignation,” contributor Christopher M. Drohan actually gets close to the archetypal sources that keep the serialized exploits of Batman and other comic heroes from getting stale. Unfortunately, most of these essays get old fast. (July) (Publishers Weekly, July 28, 2008)

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: The Oscar Speech George Clooney Never Got to Make ixIntroduction: Riddle Me This . . .  1PART ONE DOES THE DARK KNIGHT ALWAYS DO RIGHT?1 Why Doesn’t Batman Kill the Joker? 5Mark D. White2 Is It Right to Make a Robin? 17James DiGiovanna3 Batman’s Virtuous Hatred 28Stephen KershnarPART TWO LAW, JUSTICE, AN D THE SOCIAL ORDER: WHERE DOES BATMAN FIT IN?4 No Man’s Land: Social Order in Gotham City and New Orleans 41Brett Chandler Patterson5 Governing Gotham 55Tony Spanakos6 The Joker’s Wild: Can We Hold the Clown Prince Morally Responsible? 70Christopher  RobichaudPART THREE ORIGINS AND ETHICS: BECOMING THE CAPED CRUSADER7 Batman’s Promise 85Randall M. Jensen8 Should Bruce Wayne Have Become Batman? 101Mahesh Ananth and Ben Dixon9 What Would Batman Do? Bruce Wayne as Moral Exemplar 114Ryan Indy Rhodes and David Kyle JohnsonPART FOUR WHO IS THE BATMAN? (IS THAT A TRICK QUESTION?)10 Under the Mask: How Any Person Can Become Batman 129Sarah K. Donovan and Nicholas P. Richardson11 Could Batman Have Been the Joker? 142Sam Cowling and Chris Ragg12 Batman’s Identity Crisis and Wittgenstein’s Family Resemblance 156Jason Southworth13 What Is It Like to Be a Batman? 167Ron NovyPART FIVE  BEING THE BAT: INSIGHTS FROM EXISTENTIALISM AND TAOISM14 Alfred, the Dark Knight of Faith: Batman and Kierkegaard 183Christopher M. Drohan15 Dark Nights and the Call of Conscience 198Jason J. Howard16 Batman’s Confrontation with Death, Angst, and Freedom 212David M. HartPART SIX FRIEND, FATHER, . . . RIVAL? TH E MANY ROLES OF THE BAT17 Why Batman Is Better Than Superman 227Galen Foresman18 World’s Finest . . . Friends? Batman,Superman, and the Nature of Friendship 239Daniel P. Malloy19 Leaving the Shadow of the Bat: Aristotle, Kant, and Dick Grayson on Moral Education 254Carsten Fogh Nielsen20 The Tao of the Bat 267Bat-TzuCONTRIBUTORS : The Clown Princes (and Princess) of Casuistry and Categorical Imperatives 279INDEX : From the Secret Files of Oracle, Master Indexer to the DCU 285