Superhero thought experiments : comic book philosophy / Chris Gavaler and Nathaniel Goldberg.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gavaler, Chris, author.

Goldberg, Nathaniel Jason, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Comic books, strips, etc--History and criticism.

Comic books, strips, etc.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (221 pages)

Place of Publication:

Iowa City : University of Iowa Press, [2019]

Summary:

"What if there's an alternative universe with a different moral code? What if we are being deceived by an evil genius? Examining the deep philosophical topics addressed in superhero comics, this entertaining book reads plot lines for the complex "thought experiments" they contain and analyzes their implications as if the comic authors were philosophers. In doing so, authors Chris Gavaler and Nathaniel Goldberg--a comics expert and a philosophy scholar, respectively--find that superhero comics often depict philosophical thought experiments more fully than philosophers do, and with surprising results. For example, René Descartes briefly worries that we are being deceived by an evil genius, but Marvel Comics explores this concern--and its consequences--over decades. Similarly, in a few paragraphs philosophers Terry Horgan and Mark Timmons imagine a "moral twin earth" with deviant morality, while DC Comics dedicates multiple comics to different moral twin earths in which readers see multiple deviant moralities play out"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

What if?

Morality

Super consequences vs. dark duties

What good are superheroes?

Metaphysics

Evil geniuses

Clobberin' time

Meaning

Referential retcons vs. descriptivist reboots

Minding the swamp

Medium

Caped communicators

True believers

Comico, ergo sum!.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781609386566

1609386566