Heroes and philosophy: buy the book, save the world

Heroes and Philosophy: Buy the Book, Save the World......Page 1
 CONTENTS......Page 7
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 11
 INTRODUCTION: The Wonder of Heroes......Page 13
 PART ONE: HEROIC OBLIGATIONS......Page 17
  CHAPTER ONE: ABOVE THE SOCIAL CONTRACT? HOW SUPERHEROES BREAK SOCIETY......Page 18
   Hero or Not, Who Needs a Social Contract, Anyway?......Page 19
   Hobbes Debates Superheroes: Story at 11......Page 22
   Rawls and the Natural Lottery: How Do I Join the Gene Pool That Makes Me Beautiful and Invulnerable?......Page 25
   Do Superheroes Break Society?......Page 29
  CHAPTER TWO: HEROES, OBLIGATIONS, AND THE ETHICS OF SAVING THE WORLD......Page 34
   Niki, D.L., and the Nature of Obligations......Page 35
   Claire, Hiro, and Minimal Obligation......Page 37
   Peter Petrelli and the Limits of Obligation......Page 40
   Compensation and Saving the World......Page 44
  CHAPTER THREE: CORPORATE CAPERS: THE MORAL DIMENSIONS OF WORKING FOR THE COMPANY......Page 47
   Something’s Rotten at Primatech Paper......Page 48
   Messin’ with Mother Nature......Page 49
   Eating a Little Humble Pie......Page 52
   Finding Where the Blame Lies......Page 54
   Blowing the Whistle on the Bad Guys......Page 57
  CHAPTER FOUR: WITH GREAT CREATIVITY COMES GREAT IMITATION: PROBLEMS OF PLAGIARISM AND KNOWLEDGE......Page 61
   “Cautionary Tales”: The Formal Charges of Plagiarism......Page 62
   “The Line”: What Is Plagiarism and Has It Occurred?......Page 63
   “Unexpected”: Accidental Plagiarism and the Case against It......Page 67
   “Truth and Consequences”: So, What Has Kring Done Wrong?......Page 69
   “The Hard Part”......Page 74
 PART TWO: SUPERMEN, SAMURAI, AND INVISIBLE MEN......Page 77
  CHAPTER FIVE: TIME AND THE MEANING OF LIFE IN HEROES AND NIETZSCHE......Page 78
   Nietzsche: “We Are Unknown to Ourselves”......Page 79
   A Tale of Two Paths......Page 83
   Nietzsche’s Love of Fate......Page 85
   “Lives Fixed in Paint”: Life Imitates Art or Art Imitates Life?......Page 87
   “The Future Is Not Written in Stone”......Page 89
   The “Genesis” of the Popular View of Bushido......Page 91
   Being Willing to Tear Out One’s Own Heart; Historical Bushido......Page 93
   I Just Want to Be a Hero......Page 97
   You’re a Badass......Page 99
   The Wind at the Back of History......Page 101
  CHAPTER SEVEN: PLATO ON GYGES’ RING OF INVISIBILITY: THE POWER OF HEROES AND THE VALUE OF VIRTUE......Page 105
   Claire’s Thumos Saved the World......Page 106
   Claire Is Logical; Spock Is Not......Page 108
   The Virtue That Sylar Lacks......Page 110
   Superpowers and Super-Vices......Page 112
   Why Claire Apologized......Page 114
   But Isn’t It Only Natural?......Page 117
 PART THREE: METAPHYSICS, REGULAR PHYSICS, AND HEROIC TIME TRAVEL......Page 121
  CHAPTER EIGHT: THE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF A PAINTER, THE FATE OF A HIRO......Page 122
   What Is Fate?......Page 123
   The Truth about Fate......Page 124
   The Foreknowledge of Hiro......Page 126
   A Loose Sense of Fate......Page 128
   A Looser Sense of Fate......Page 130
   Self-Fulfilling Prophecy......Page 131
  CHAPTER NINE: TIME TO BE A HERO: BRANCHING TIME AND CHANGING THE FUTURE......Page 135
   The Problem with Time Travel......Page 136
   Linear Time Travel......Page 137
   Branching Time Travel......Page 139
   The Heroes Multiverse......Page 144
   With Coherence Comes a Price......Page 149
  CHAPTER TEN: HEROES AND THE ETHICS OF TIME TRAVEL: DOES THE PRESENT MATTER?......Page 152
   “Out of Time”......Page 153
   “. . . the Tools to Fight the Battles Ahead.”......Page 154
   “Some Things Even Takezo Kensei Cannot Change.”......Page 157
   Finding Hiro’s Present......Page 160
   Should We Stop a Time-Traveling Man?......Page 163
   Healing, Longevity, and Adam Monroe......Page 167
   Gravity, Motion, and Nathan Petrelli......Page 169
   Relativity, Quantum Physics, and Hiro Nakamura......Page 171
   The Evolution Revolution......Page 180
   Intelligently Designed Heroes?......Page 183
  CHAPTER TWELVE: PSEUDOSCIENCE, SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTIONS, AND DR. CHANDRA SURESH......Page 186
   Science versus Pseudoscience......Page 187
   So, What Is the Difference?......Page 188
   Good Scientific Method......Page 190
   Can Only Time Tell?......Page 192
 PART FOUR: THE MINDS OF HEROES......Page 195
  CHAPTER THIRTEEN: PETER PETRELLI, THE HAITIAN, AND THE PHILOSOPHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF MEMORY LOSS......Page 196
   Are You Really You? Is Mohinder Really Mohinder?......Page 198
   Do You Remember? Mohinder’s Past, Present, and Future......Page 199
   Chains of Memory: Heroic Ancestors......Page 201
   The Problem of Hiro’s Memory Loss......Page 203
   But What about Total Amnesia? The Case of Peter Petrelli......Page 205
   The Evan-the-Human-Xerox Problem......Page 207
   Why Claire Should Keep Her Promises......Page 209
  CHAPTER FOURTEEN: UNDERSTANDING OTHER MINDS: PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF HEROES' MIND-READING POWERS......Page 212
   Supernatural and Mundane Mind Reading......Page 213
   Is Anyone in There? Telepathy and the Problem of Other Minds......Page 214
   Changing Minds: The Evolutionary Value of Mind Reading......Page 219
   Mind Reading and Technology: Myth or Reality?......Page 225
  CHAPTER FIFTEEN: PETER PETRELLI: THE POWER OF EMPATHY......Page 234
   What Is Empathy?......Page 235
   Empathy as Resonance......Page 236
   Empathy as Absorption......Page 237
   Empathy as Duplication......Page 238
   Does Empathy Make You Moral?......Page 242
   Limiting Our Empathy in Order to Be Moral......Page 245
 PART FIVE: VILLAINS, FAMILY, AND LYING......Page 251
  CHAPTER SIXTEEN: ARE THE HEROES REALLY GOOD?......Page 252
   Evil as Ignorance......Page 253
   Evil as Privation and Rebellion......Page 255
   The Superhuman......Page 257
   Evil as Not Caring......Page 261
   Universal Justice......Page 266
   The Ethics of Care......Page 267
   Confucianism......Page 268
   The Bennets......Page 270
   The Petrellis......Page 271
   The Nakamuras......Page 273
   Hawkins and Sanders......Page 275
   The Sureshes......Page 276
   The Parkmans......Page 277
   “Collision”......Page 278
  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: CONCEALMENT AND LYING: IS THAT ANY WAY FOR A HERO TO ACT?......Page 280
   What Is Lying?......Page 281
   Kant and Lying......Page 283
   What’s Wrong with a Little White Lie?......Page 284
   Machiavelli......Page 287
   The Presumption against Lying......Page 288
   Should We or Shouldn’t We?......Page 290
 CONTRIBUTORS......Page 293
 CHANDRA SURESH’S LIST: A Catalogue of Powers, Both Natural and Synthetic......Page 299
 INDEX......Page 313