Twilight and Philosophy

REBECCA HOUSEL coedited X-Men and Philosophy. A former professor of English and popular culture in western New York, she now serves on editorial advisory boards for the Journal of Popular Culture and the Journal of American Culture. Also an author of middle-grade fiction, she is currently working on a new young adult novel.J. JEREMY WISNEWSKI is a professor of philosophy at Hartwick College, the coeditor of X-Men and Philosophy, and the editor of Family Guy and Philosophy and The Office and Philosophy. WILLIAM IRWIN is a professor of philosophy at King’s College. He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles, including Batman and Philosophy, House and Philosophy, and Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy.

• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Supernatural HumansWe Can’t Live Without xiIntroduction: Undead Wisdom 1PART ONE TWILIGHT1 You Look Good Enough to Eat: Love, Madness, and the Food Analogy 7George A. Dunn2 Dying to Eat: The Vegetarian Ethics of Twilight 25Jean Kazez3 Can a Vampire Be a Person? 39Nicolas Michaud4 Carlisle: More Compassionate Than a Speeding Bullet? 49Andrew Terjesen and Jenny TerjesenPART TWO NEW MOON5 Vampire-Dämmerung: What Can Twilight Tell Us about God? 63Peter S. Fosl and Eli Fosl6 To Bite or Not to Bite: Twilight, Immortality, and the Meaning of Life 79Brendan Shea7 Mind Reading and Morality: The Moral Hazards of Being Edward 93Eric Silverman8 Love and Authority among Wolves 107Sara WorleyPART THREE ECLIPSE9 Bella Swan and Sarah Palin: All the Old Myths Are Not True 121Naomi Zack10 Vampire Love: The Second Sex Negotiates the Twenty-first Century 131Bonnie Mann11 Edward Cullen and Bella Swan: Byronic and Feminist Heroes . . . or Not 147Abigail E. Myers12 Undead Patriarchy and the Possibility of Love 163Leah McClimans and J. Jeremy Wisnewski13 The “Real” Danger: Fact vs. Fiction for the Girl Audience 177Rebecca HouselPART FOUR BREAKING DAWN14 Twilight of an Idol: Our Fatal Attraction to Vampires 193Jennifer L. McMahon15 Bella’s Vampire Semiotics 209Dennis Knepp16 Space, Time, and Vampire Ontology 219Philip Puszczalowski17 For the Strength of Bella? Meyer, Vampires, and Mormonism 227Marc E. Shaw18 The Tao of Jacob 237Rebecca HouselCONTRIBUTORS: Ladies and Gentlemen, Introducing the Stars of Our Show, Humans, Vampires, and Shape-Shifters Alike 247INDEX: For Those Who Can’t Read Minds 253