from: Open Court
List Price: $17.95You Pay Only: $12.21 You Save: $5.74 (32%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.509
EAN: 9780812695731
ISBN: 0812695739
Label: Open Court
Manufacturer: Open Court
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 300
Publication Date: May 10, 2005
Publisher: Open Court
Sales Rank: 99390
Studio: Open Court
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
The comic book superheroes — Superman, Batman, the Incredible Hulk, the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and many others — have proved to be a powerful and enduring thread in popular culture, a rich source of ideas for moviemakers, novelists, and philosophers. Superheroes and Philosophy brings together 16 leading philosophers and some of the most creative people in the world of comics, from storywriters to editors to critics, to examine the deeper issues that resonate from the hyperbolic narratives and superhuman actions of this heroic world. The comic book narratives of superheroes wrestle with profound and disturbing issues in original ways: the definitions of good and evil, the limits of violence as an efficacious means, the perils of enforcing justice outside the law, the metaphysics of personal identity, and the definition of humanity. The book also features original artwork specially commissioned from some of the most popular of today's comic book artists.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Missed The Boat
This one just didn't do it for me. I have enjoyed 2-3 of the authors and some of Morris' work in the past, but this one fell flat. There is some heavy repetition in my mind amongst the collection of essays, super hero characters are repeatedly analyzed, and frankly I felt in a number of cases this book challenged me to take it seriously. If you are a big comic fan, pass, and if you are a big fan of Tom Morris, pass.
Rating:  - Thought provoking but limited
This book inspired me to ponder several concepts, but the views expressed as the chapter conclusions were often scantily supported. The book delved into some interesting topics such as identity and what it means to be moral, but several chapters were based on only one or two superhero characters or even one specific example from the superhero world. The book veered into religious philosophy more often than was warranted given the subject matter. I'm glad that I read this due to some insights it gave me into a few characters (esp. Batman and Superman), but I was disappointed due to the great potential a book of this nature could have. Superheroes and Philosophy is probably the only book based on the combination of these two loves of mine, so I am glad that I bought it. However, there are deeper volumes of the popular culture and philosophy series.
Rating:  - "Superman and Batman are the Plato and Aristotle of the comic-book world."
"Superman and Batman are the Plato and Aristotle of the comic-book world." (262).
If you agree with this, if you understand it, and if you find it both funny and accurate, then get this book.
*
I'm a fan of the "Philosophy And" series. Philosophy lurks everywhere, if we have our eyes open. Additionally, Neil Postman in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business makes the case that television is a form of epistemology. The same holds true for comic books. Since epistemology is a branch of philosophy, and comic books are a means of epistemology, then they demand our attention.
The book is a fun romp, with serendipitous discoveries. If you are a fan of such things, they buy this book.
However, I would rate most of the essays about a B+, or an A-. They are interesting, but many times the authors fall into a methodological trap. Philosophy can be defined two ways. One is the study of what people have said about things. The other is the love of wisdom. Too often the authors seem to take ideas and quotes to bolster their points. And they are very good at compare and contrast. But for wisdom, especially the love of wisdom, this is lacking.
Chapter 17 on the identify question which uses the Hulk/Banner as a case study, ignores multiple personality disorders. For a good discussion of time travel, read Chapter 18 by Richard Hanley.
Part of the problem has to do with the structure. ... Read More
Rating: - Short, varied essays make for an entertaining look at Philosophy
I picked this book up from the library with the thought of skimming over it; however, once I started, I literally couldn't put it down! It's an entertaining and thought-provoking collection of essays on super heroes in TV, movies and comics, their ethics, responsibilities, lack of religion, and more. The various essayists do a great job of comparing classical ideas from Plato, Aristotle, Pascal, the Bible, Kierkegaard and more, and their impact on the imaginary world of super heroes.
Rating:  - It's a bird, It's a plane...It's a philospher?
This is the first book in this series that I've read, and I have to say I'm impressed. It's nice to see someone take comic books seriously, and really superheroes are a perfect topic for philosophers, as any serious reader of comic books will tell you. The essays were great, though there were a few topics I would have liked to have seen them cover.
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