Watchmen and Philosophy

MARK D. WHITE is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, Economics, and Philosophy at the College of Staten Island/CUNY and coeditor of Batman 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: They Left It Entirely in My Hands ixIntroduction: A Rorschach Test 1Part One The Politics of Power: Who Watches The Watchmen?1 The Superman Exists, and He’s American: Morality in the Face of Absolute Power5Christopher Robichaud2 Can We Steer This Rudderless World? Kant, Rorschach, Retributivism, and Honor 19Jacob M. Held3 Super-Vigilantes and the Keene Act 33Tony Spanakos4 Superheroes and Supermen: Finding Nietzsche’s Übermensch in Watchmen 47J. KeepingPart Two The Veidt Plan: Watchmen and Ethics5 Means, Ends, and the Critique of Pure Superheroes 63J. Robert Loftis6 The Virtues of Nite Owl’s Potbelly 79Mark D. White7 Rorschach: When Telling the Truth Is Wrong 91Alex NuttallPart Three The Metaphysics of Dr. Manhattan8 Dr. Manhattan, I Presume? 103James DiGiovanna9 A Timely Encounter: Dr. Manhattan and Henri Bergson 115Christopher M. Drohan10 Free Will and Foreknowledge: Does Jon Really Know What Laurie Will Do Next, and Can She DoOtherwise? 125Arthur Ward11 I’m Just a Puppet Who Can See the Strings: Dr. Manhattan as a Stoic Sage 137Andrew TerjesenPart Four This Is Not Your Father’s Comic Book12 “Why Don’t You Go Read a Book or Something?”Watchmen as Literature 157Aaron Meskin13 Watchwomen 173Sarah Donovan and Nick Richardson14 Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis: The Ambiguously Gay Duo 185Robert Arp15 What’s So Goddamned Funny? The Comedian and Rorschach on Life’s Way 197Taneli KukkonenContributors: Who Writes about the Watchmen? 215Index: After the Masquerade 221