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Batman and philosophy : the dark knight of the soul

Format: Print Book 2008
Availability: Available at 2 Libraries 2 of 2 copies

Available (2)
Location Collection Call #
CLP - Main Library Second Floor - Non-fiction PN6728.B36 B376 2008
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  Second Floor - Non-fiction
 
Call Number  PN6728.B36 B376 2008
 
 
Penn Hills Library Non-Fiction 741.59 BAT
Location  Penn Hills Library
 
Collection  Non-Fiction
 
Call Number  741.59 BAT
 
 

Summary
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?
Contents
Introduction: Riddle me this

Does the Dark Knight always do right?
Why doesn't Batman kill the joker? / Mark D. White
Is it right to make a Robin? / James DiGiovanna
Batman's virtuous hatred / Stephen Kershnar
Law, justice, and the social order : where does Batman fit in?
No man's land : social order in Gotham City and New Orleans / Brett Chandler Patterson
Governing Gotham / Tony Spanakos
The Joker's wild : can we hold the Clown Prince morally responsible? / Christopher Robichaud
Origins and ethics : becoming the Caped Crusader
Batman's promise / Randall M. Jensen
Should Bruce Wayne have become Batman? / Mahesh Ananth and Ben Dixon
What would Batman do? : Bruce Wayne as moral exemplar / Ryan Indy Rhodes and David Kyle Johnson
Who is the Batman? (Is that a trick question?)
Under the mask : how any person can become Batman / Sarah K. Donovan and Nicholas P. Richardson
Could Batman have been the Joker? / Sam Cowling and Chris Ragg
Batman's identity crisis and Wittgenstein's family resemblance / Jason Southworth
What is it like to be a Batman? / Ron Novy
Being the Bat : insights from existentialism and taoism
Alfred, the Dark Knight of faith : Batman and Kierkegaard / Christopher M. Drohan
Dark nights and the call of conscience / Jason J. Howard
Batman's confrontation with death, angst, and freedom / David M. Hart
Friend, father
rival? : the many roles of the Bat
Why Batman is better than Superman / Galen Foresman
World's finest
friends? : Batman, Superman, and the nature of friendship / Daniel P. Malloy
Leaving the shadow of the Bat : Aristotle, Kant, and Dick Grayson on moral education / Carsten Fogh Nielsen
The tao of the Bat / Bat-Tzu.
Published Reviews
Publisher's Weekly Review: "In this, the latest in Wiley's Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series (South Park and Philosophy, The Office and¿, Metallica and¿), editors White and Arp assert upfront, and without qualification (apparently, that's the contributors' job), their belief that Batman is "the most complex character ever to appear in comic books and graphic novels." Exploring certain works that have broadened the philosophical undercurrents of the Batman mythos (Frank Miller's Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns are cited often, but rarely the new movies), a raft of professors, students and PhD candidates paint Bruce Wayne's choices as, most often, either utilitarian or deontological, with basic descriptions of these systems helpfully provided for the novice. A few contributions broaden the discussion beyond the well-worn (origin stories of Batman and foes, etc.); casting butler Alfred as Kierkegaard's "knight of faith" to Batman's "knight of infinite resignation," contributor Christopher M. Drohan actually gets close to the archetypal sources that keep the serialized exploits of Batman and other comic heroes from getting stale. Unfortunately, most of these essays get old fast. (July) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information."

Additional Information
Series Blackwell philosophy and popculture series.
Subjects Batman -- (Fictitious character)
Publisher Hoboken, N.J. :John Wiley & Sons,2008
Contributors White, Mark D., 1971- editor.
Arp, Robert, editor.
Language English
Description ix, 294 pages ; 23 cm.
Bibliography Notes Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 9780470270301
0470270306
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