Superman and Philosophy

Mark D. White is chair of the Department of Political Science, Economics, and Philosophy at the College of Staten Island/CUNY, where he teaches courses in economics, philosophy, and law. He has edited and coedited many books in the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, including Batman and Philosophy, Watchmen and Philosophy, Iron Man and Philosophy, and The Avengers and Philosophy.William Irwin is Professor of Philosophy at King’s College in Pennsylvania. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles including House and Philosophy, Batman and Philosophy, and Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy.

"As can be noted from my comments above, any book that will make you think or react makes for an interesting read and ‘Superman And Philosophy’ succeeds in doing that. One should always be glad that Superman sees himself as the good scout otherwise the DC Earth would truly be hell."  (SFCrowsnest.org.uk, 1 June 2013)“And this delightfully appealing tome does exactly that…”  (Comics Review, 25 April 2013)

• Introduction: It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane … It’s Philosophy! 1Part One The Big Blue Boy Scout: Ethics, Judgment, and Reason 31 Moral Judgment: The Power That Makes Superman Human 5Mark D. White2 Action Comics! Superman and Practical Reason 16Brian Feltham3 Can the Man of Tomorrow Be the Journalist of Today? 26Jason Southworth and Ruth Tallman4 Could Superman Have Joined the Third Reich? The Importance and Shortcomings of MoralUpbringing 37Robert SharpPart Two Truth, Justice, and the American Way: What Do They Mean? 475 Clark Kent Is Superman! The Ethics of Secrecy 49Daniel P. Malloy6 Superman and Justice 61Christopher Robichaud7 Is Superman an American Icon? 71Andrew TerjesenPart Three The Will to Superpower: Nietzsche, the Übermensch, and Existentialism 838 Rediscovering Nietzsche’s Übermensch in Superman as a Heroic Ideal 85Arno Bogaerts9 Superman or Last Man: The Ethics of Superpower 101David Gadon10 Superman: From Anti-Christ to Christ-Type 111Adam Barkman11 Superman Must Be Destroyed! Lex Luthor as Existentialist Anti-Hero 121Sarah K. Donovan and Nicholas RichardsonPart Four The Ultimate Hero: What Do We Expect from Superman? 13112 Superman’s Revelation: The Problem of Violence in Kingdom Come 133David Hatfield13 A World Without a Clark Kent? 145Randall M. Jensen14 The Weight of the World: How Much Is Superman Morally Responsible For? 157Audrey L. AntonPart Five Superman and Humanity: A Match Made on Krypton? 16915 Superman and Man: What a Kryptonian Can Teach Us About Humanity 171Leonard FinkelmanContents vii16 Can the Man of Steel Feel Our Pain? Sympathy and Superman 181Andrew Terjesen17 World’s Finest Philosophers: Superman and Batman on Human Nature 194Carsten Fogh NielsenPart Six Of Superman and Superminds: Who Is Superman, Anyway? 20518 “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s … Clark Kent?” Superman and the Problem of Identity 207Nicolas Michaud19 Superman Family Resemblance 217Dennis Knepp20 Why Superman Should Not Be Able to Read Minds 225Mahesh AnanthContributors: Trapped in the Philosophy Zone 237Index: From Brainiac’s Files 243