Wonder Woman and Philosophy

Jacob M. Held is Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, and Director of the UCA Core at the University of Central Arkansas. He is editor of Stephen King and Philosophy [2016], Roald Dahl and Philosophy: A Little Nonsense Now and Then ... [2014], Dr. Seuss and Philosophy: Oh, the Thinks you can Think! [2011] and co-editor of The Philosophy of Pornography: Contemporary Perspectives [2014], Terry Pratchett and Philosophy (2014), and James Bond and Philosophy [2006].William Irwin (series editor) is Herve A. LeBlanc Distinguished Service Professor and Chair of Philosophy at King's College in Pennsylvania and is the author of The Free Market Existentialist. Irwin originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books with Seinfeld and Philosophy in 1999 and has overseen recent titles including House of Cards and Philosophy, Game of Thrones and Philosophy, and Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy.

"This collection provides an engaging set of arguments about the meaning of Wonder Woman in a philosophical, feminist and cultural context. Accessible both to academic and general readers, it offers a useful introduction to an array of philosophical theories ranging from Aristotle to Foucault."—Rachel Harris, Australian Women's History Network"The authors approach [Wonder Woman] as a serious work of fiction, worthy of study and debate, and with relevance for the questions of our own world. Whether a Wonder Woman fan who wants to dive deeper into Dianalysis, or a philosophy buff who is interested in how this pop culture phenomenon relate to the larger questions of philosophy and ethics, this is a book worth opening up."—Matthew Westfox - Creator, Superhero Ethics Podcast

• Contributors: The Myndi Mayer Foundation xiAcknowledgments xviiEditor’s Note xixIntroduction: In and For a World of Ordinary Mortals 1Jacob M. HeldPart I You Are a Wonder Woman 31 Becoming a (Wonder) Woman: Feminism, Nationalism, and the Ambiguity of Female Identity 5J. Lenore Wright2 The God of War is Wearing What? Gender in the New 52 19Sarah K. Donovan3 Wonder Woman vs. Harley Quinn: The Paradox of the Moral Hero 31Jill Hernandez and Allie Hernandez4 Great Hera! Considering Wonder Woman’s Super Heroism 44Trip McCrossinPart II Dispatches from Man’s World 555 Wonder Woman: Feminist Faux Pas? 57Andrea Zanin6 Feminist Symbol or Fetish? Žižek, Wonder Woman, and Final Crisis 72Matthew William Brake7 When Clark Met Diana: Friendship and Romance in Comics 81Matthew A. Hoffman and Sara KolmesPart III When I Deal with Them, I Deal with Them 918 Bound to Face the Truth: The Ethics of Using Wonder Woman’s Lasso 93Melanie Johnson-Moxley9 “What I Had to Do”: The Ethics of Wonder Woman’s Execution of Maxwell Lord 104Mark D. White10 Can a Warrior Care? Wonder Woman and the Improbable Intersection of Care Ethics and Bushido 115Steve Bein11 Wonder Woman: Saving Lives through Just Torture? 126Adam Barkman and Sabina Tokbergenova12 Wonder Woman Winning with Words: A Paragon of Wisdom, Disarming Threats One at a Time 133Francis Tobienne Jr.Part IV God(s), Country, Sorority 14113 Wonder Woman, Worship, and Gods Almighty: Purpose in Submission to Loving Authority 143Jacob M. Held14 Merciful Minerva in a Modern Metropolis 151Dennis Knepp15 Wonder Woman and Patriarchy: From Themyscira’s Amazons to Wittig’s Guérrillères 162Mónica Cano AbadíaPart V Tying Up Loose Ends 17116 The Lasso of Truth? 173James Edwin Mahon17 Loving Lassos: Wonder Woman, Kink, and Care 188Maria Chavez, Chris Gavaler, and Nathaniel Goldberg18 Golden Lassos and Logical Paradoxes 198Roy T. Cook and Nathan KellenIndex 209