Superman and Philosophy: What Would the Man of Steel Do?

Superman and Philosophy: What Would the Man of Steel Do?
	Copyright
	Contents
	Introduction: It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane … It’s Philosophy!
	Part One The Big Blue Boy Scout: Ethics, Judgment, and Reason
		1 Moral Judgment: The Power That Makes Superman Human
			The Trinity of Moral Philosophy
			But Like Superpowers, Ethics Only Gets You So Far
			Tragic Dilemma in Your Pocket (Universe)
			I’m Walkin’, Yes Indeed
			Superman Did What?
			What Makes Superman Human
			Notes
		2 Action Comics!: Superman and Practical Reason
			It’s Practically Reasonable
			More Powerful Than a Locomotive
			We Could Be Heroes …
			Superman vs. the Calculator
			Faster Than a Speeding Bullet
			The Virtues of Being Super
			So Whom Does He Save?
			Notes
		3 Can the Man of Tomorrow Be the Journalist of Today?
			The Face and the Voice
			A Reporter’s Story
			The Reporter of Steel
			Superman Confidential: Seek Truth and Report It
			The Big Forget: Act Independently
			Wicked Business! Minimize Harm
			Fatal Flaw?
			Notes
		4 Could Superman Have Joined the Third Reich?: The Importance and Shortcomings of Moral Upbringing
			… Or Not
			The Moral Education of a Superman
			Superman: Son of the Third Reich
			In the End, Hitler Still Loses
			Notes
	Part Two Truth, Justice, and the American Way: What Do They Mean?
		5 Clark Kent Is Superman!: The Ethics of Secrecy
			What Is the Secret?
			Superman for President!
			The Secret Revealed!
			Opening the Shirt
			Letting in Lois
			In the Vault
			Notes
		6 Superman and Justice
			It’s All About Personal Liberty
			Truth, Libertarian Justice, and the American Way
			Great Rawls!
			Behind the (Lead-Lined) Veil of Ignorance
			Occupy Metropolis
			Superman’s Greatest Foe?
			Notes
		7 Is Superman an American Icon?
			Is Superman Giving Up on the American Way?
			My Country, Right or Wrong—But Mostly Right
			Can Superman Be a Citizen of the World?
			Cosmopolitanism Then and Now
			The Appearance of Impropriety
			Act Locally, Think Globally
			Notes
	Part Three The Will to Superpower: Nietzsche, the Übermensch, and Existentialism
		8 Rediscovering Nietzsche’s Übermensch in Superman as a Heroic Ideal
			Truth, Justice, and the Nietzschean Way
			Putting the Über into the Übermensch
			The Nietzschean Superman
			Superman vs. Clark Kent
			S Is for Savior
			Kneel Before Zod!
			Perhaps … Lex Luthor?
			Nietzschean Übermensch, American Christ, or Both?
			Notes
		9 Superman or Last Man: The Ethics of Superpower
			Survival of the Weakest
			Introducing Superman—Whether We Need Him or Not
			Waiting for Superman
			Resignation Superman
			Singer vs. Nietzsche
			It Ain’t Easy Being Blue
			Is He Worth It?
			Notes
		10 Superman: From Anti-Christ to Christ-Type
			Übermensch as Anti-Christ
			Lex Luthor: Super-Man?
			Jesus Without the Christ
			Moral Illumination
			Trinitarian Movie Mythos
			Is Superman Christ or a Christ-Type?
			Seduction of the Innocent?
			Notes
		11 Superman Must Be Destroyed!: Lex Luthor as Existentialist Anti-Hero
			A Man Who Writes His Own Script
			An Iconoclast
			One Man Is an Island
			The Anti-Hero of Faith
			Existentialists Gone Wild!
			Notes
	Part Four The Ultimate Hero: What Do We Expect from Superman?
		12 Superman’s Revelation: The Problem of Violence in Kingdom Come
			The Never-Ending Battle
			Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World
			Kingdom Come
			Superman’s Dilemma
			Good Violence vs. Bad Violence
			Sacred Violence
			Caution: Mythology at Work
			The Truth About Truth and Justice
			Notes
		13 A World Without a Clark Kent?
			Goodbye, Clark?
			Golden Age Limits
			The Humanity of Martha Kent
			Jor-El’s Higher Calling
			Lex Luthor, Villain or Hero?
			Man and Superman
			Notes
		14 The Weight of the World: How Much Is Superman Morally Responsible For?
			Know Your Role!
			Superhindsight
			There’s Demanding and Then There’s Demanding
			It Ain’t Right, I Tell Ya, It Ain’t Right
			The Big Blue Boy Scout
			Superman Meets His Match: Supererogatory!
			The Weight of the World
			Notes
	Part Five Superman and Humanity: A Match Made on Krypton?
		15 Superman and Man: What a Kryptonian Can Teach Us About Humanity
			Mystery of the Bizarro World!
			Strange Visitor to Earth-P!
			Civilizing Earth-P
			The Super-Men of Earth-O!
			Humanity’s Greatest Power!
			Notes
		16 Can the Man of Steel Feel Our Pain?: Sympathy and Superman
			Growing Up a Super Boy
			Men Are from Earth, Supermen Are from Krypton
			Just Another Kid from Smallville
			There’s Pain and Then There’s Pain
			I Am Curious (Superman)
			Kneel Before Zod
			What the “S” Really Means
			Sympathy for the Hero
			Notes
		17 World’s Finest Philosophers: Superman and Batman on Human Nature
			Batman, Hobbes, and the War of All Against All
			Batman and the Sovereign
			The Most Perfect Line
			You Matter—To Me
			Securing Recognition
			Batman or Superman? Hobbes or Hegel?
			Notes
	Part Six Of Superman and Superminds: Who Is Superman, Anyway?
		18 “It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s … Clark Kent?”: Superman and the Problem of Identity
			The Question-Begger, the Greatest Villain in Philosophy
			Is It My Super-Body?
			Memories of You, Superman
			Hole-y Personality Superman!
			Would the Real Superman Please Stand Up!
			So Let’s Give Lois a Break!
			Notes
		19 Superman Family Resemblance
			The Eternal Superman
			The Challenge of the Supermen
			Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Family Values
			But Families Also Disagree a Lot
			Having Fun With Big Blue
			Notes
		20 Why Superman Should Not Be Able to Read Minds
			The Mind of Superman
			Great Caesar’s Ghost: The Problem of Other Minds!
			Solving the Kryptonian Knot
			What Are You Thinking?
			Zombie Superman: Even Worse Than Bizarro
			Too Close for Comfort
			Luthor’s Razor
			Forget It, Supes
			Notes
	Contributors: Trapped in the Philosophy Zone
	Index: From Brainiac’s Files