Joss Whedon as Shakespearean Moralist

J. Douglas Rabb is a professor emeritus of philosophy at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, and an executive member of the Centre for Health Care Ethics, also at Lakehead University. J. Michael Richardson is a professor of English at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. A specialist in Early Modern Literature, he has written a number of articles on Shakespeare and popular culture.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsForeword by Kim FeddersonIntroductionOne—Joss Whedon, the Shakespeare for Our TimeTwo—Shakespeare’s Brain and Whedon’s Brains: Cognitive Theory in Narrative and EthicsThree—Joss Whedon’s “Big Brain”: The Espenson Authorship ControversyFour—Shakespeare and Popular Culture: Uses and Echos of the Bard in the Whedonverses and Ours as WellFive—Persons, Personation and Character Development: The Transformative Nature of NarrativeSix—The Moral Imagination in Shakespeare: ­Pre-Modern and Early Modern EthicsSeven—The Moral Imagination in Whedon: ­Post-Modern and ­Post-Christian Love EthicsEight—Reason and Rules in Ethics: The Parfit PathologyConclusion: Narrative Ethics in ActionWorks CitedIndex

“This book makes a compelling argument that Joss Whedon...is the Shakespeare of our time. They consider representative works from each author and draw important parallels through the narrative ethics. Fans of Whedon and literary scholars will both find this book an informative and interesting read”—ProtoView.