Why doesn''t Batman just kill the Joker and end everyone''s misery? Can we hold the Joker morally responsible for his actions? Is Batman better than Superman? If everyone followed Batman''s example, would Gotham be a better place? What is the Tao of the Bat? Batman is one of the most complex characters ever to appear in comic books, graphic novels, and on the big screen. What philosophical trials does this superhero confront in order to keep Gotham safe? Combing through seventy years of comic books, television shows, and movies, Batman and Philosophy explores how the Dark Knight grapples with ethical conundrums, moral responsibility, his identity crisis, the moral weight he carries to avenge his murdered parents, and much more. How does this caped crusader measure up against the teachings of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Kierkegaard, and Lao Tzu?

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, Pennsylvania, and has coedited The Simpsons and Philosophy and edited Seinfeld and Philosophy, The Matrix and Philosophy, and Metallica and Philosophy.

Leseprobe

Acknowledgements: The Oscar Speech George Clooney Never Got to Make. Introduction: Riddle Me This... Abbreviations. I. DOES THE DARK KNIGHT ALWAYS DO RIGHT? 1. Why Doesn''t Batman Kill the Joker (Mark D. White)? 2. Is It Right to Make a Robin (James DiGiovanna)? 3. Batman''s Virtuous Hatred (Stephen Kershnar). II. LAW, JUSTICE, AND THE SOCIAL ORDER: WHERE DOES BATMAN FIT IN? 4. No Man''s Land: Social Order in Gotham City and New Orleans (Brett Chandler Patterson). 5. Governing Gotham (Tony Spanakos). 6. The Joker''s Wild: Can We Hold the Clown Prince Morally Responsible (Christopher Robichaud)? III. ORIGINS AND ETHICS: BECOMING THE CAPED CRUSADER. 7. Batman''s Promise (Randall M. Jensen). 8. Should Bruce Wayne Have Become Batman (Mahesh Ananth and Ben Dixon). 9. What Would Batman Do? Bruce Wayne as Moral Exemplar (Ryan Indy Rhodes and David Kyle Johnson). IV. WHO IS THE BATMAN? (IS THAT A TRICK QUESTION?). 10. Under The Mask: How Any Person Can Become Batman (Sarah K. Donovan and Nicholas P. Richardson). 11. Could Batman Have Been the Joker (Sam Cowling and Chris Ragg)? 12. Batman''s Identity Crisis and Wittgenstein''s Family Resemblance (Jason Southworth). 13. What Is It Like to Be a Batman (Ron Novy)? V. BEING THE BAT: INSIGHTS FROM EXISTENTIALISM AND TAOISM. 14. Alfred, the Dark Knight of Faith: Batman and Kierkegaard (Christopher M. Drohan). 15. Dark Nights and the Call of Conscience (Jason J. Howard). 16. Batman''s Confrontation with Death, Angst, and Freedom (David M. Hart). VI. FRIEND, FATHER... RIVAL? THE MANY ROLES OF THE BAT. 17. Why Batman Is Better Than Superman (Galen Foresman). 18. World''s Finest . . . Friends? Batman, Superman, and the Nature of Friendship (Daniel P. Malloy). 19. Leaving the Shadow of the Bat: Aristotle, Kant, and Dick Grayson on Moral Education (Carsten Fogh Nielsen). 20. The Tao of the Bat (Bat-Tzu). Contributors: The Clown Princes of Casuistry and Categorical Imperatives. Index: From the Secret Files of Oracle, Master Indexer to the DCU.