Watchmen and Philosophy: A Rorschach Test (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series)

WATCHMEN AND PHILOSOPHY: A Rorschach Test
	CONTENTS
	ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
	INTRODUCTION: A Rorschach Test
	Part I: THE POLITICS OF POWER: WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN?
		Chapter 1: THE SUPERMAN EXISTS, AND HE'S AMERICAN: MORALITY IN THE FACE OF ABSOLUTE POWER
			The Son of a Watchmaker
			Rubble and the Human Race
			Emotions: They're Not Just for Breakfast Anymore
			Sure, It's the Right Thing to Do—Now Tell Me Why I Should Do It
			From the Personal to the Political
			The Endless Ethical Enigmas of Dr. Manhattan (There Oughta Be a Book…)
		Chapter 2: CAN WE STEER THIS RUDDERLESS WORLD? KANT, RORSCHACH, RETRIBUTIVISM, AND HONOR
			Evil Must Be Punished: Retributivism, Basically
			Kant and Rorschach on Respect and Dignity
			Order and Value in a Morally Blank World
			Honor Is Like the Hawk…
			This Last Entry
		Chapter 3: SUPER-VIGILANTES AND THE KEENE ACT
			I'm Holding Out for a Hero… or a State
			Working against or outside the State: Rorschach and Veidt
			Working for the Man
			Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
			Who Can Watch the Watchmen?
		Chapter 4: SUPERHEROES AND SUPERMEN: FINDING NIETZSCHE'S ÜBERMENSCH IN WATCHMEN
			Nietzsche's Super, Man
			God Is Dead, and He's American
			What's So Über about the Übermensch?
			The Nietzsche Method
			Who Watches the Übermensch?
			And Then There Were Three…
			Do We Have a Winner?
	Part II: THE VEIDT PLAN: WATCHMEN AND ETHICS
		Chapter 5: MEANS, ENDS, AND THE CRITIQUE OF PURE SUPERHEROES
			“ 'In the end'? Nothing ends, Adrian, nothing ever ends.”
			The Utilitarians Strike Back
			“Even in the face of Armageddon I shall not compromise in this.”
			“Who watches the watchmen?”
		Chapter 6: THE VIRTUES OF NITE OWL'S POTBELLY
			Watchmen and Virtue? (Hurm…)
			Rorschach, Meet… Forrest Gump?
			Nite Owl in the Middle
			Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Watchmen
			Are We Wasting Our Time Discussing Character and Virtues?
			Dan, Dan, He's Our Man!
		Chapter 7: RORSCHACH: WHEN TELLING THE TRUTH IS WRONG
			Rorschach's Death
			Lying for the Sake of Humanity
			But Is Lying Really That Big a Deal?
			Utilitarianism: A Justification for Lying?
			Judging Rorschach
	Part III: THE METAPHYSICS OF DR. MANHATTAN
		Chapter 8: DR. MANHATTAN, I PRESUME?
			Am I Who I Am?
			Selves, Bundles, and Memories
			I Am Not My Body
			If I'm My Mind, How Many of Me Are There?
			Superheroes and Super-Identity
		Chapter 9: A TIMELY ENCOUNTER: DR. MANHATTAN AND HENRI BERGSON
			“His watch isn't the only thing that's broken.”
			Bergson Saves Manhattan
			Active vs. Passive Time
			Manhattan Standard Time
			Everyday Time Travel
		Chapter 10: FREE WILL AND FOREKNOWLEDGE: DOES JON REALLY KNOW WHAT LAURIE WILL DO NEXT, AND CAN SHE DO OTHERWISE?
			He's Got Foreknowledge, and He's Not Afraid to Use It
			Alternatives, Shmalternatives
			God, I Hope It's Not Fatal
			The Naked Watchmaker
			The World According to Big Blue
			Why Jon Is Wrong
			Tripping on Tachyons
			Do as I Say, Not as I Blue
		Chapter 11: I'M JUST A PUPPET WHO CAN SEE THE STRINGS: DR. MANHATTAN AS A STOIC SAGE
			The Modern Misunderstanding of Stoicism
			“I Read Atoms”: Seeing Nature for What It Is
			Dr. Manhattan Does Get Upset, So He's Not Really a Stoic, Right?
			Stoicism and Fate: A Puppet Comes to Terms with the Strings
			Thermodynamic Miracles and the “Good Emotions”
			Stoicism without a Rational Lawgiver?
			“Relax and See the Whole Continuum”
	Part IV: THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHER'S COMIC BOOK
		Chapter 12: “WHY DON'T YOU GO READ A BOOK OR SOMETHING?” WATCHMEN AS LITERATURE
			Is Watchmen Literature?
			Whom Do We Ask?
			“Under the Hood” of Literature
			Opinions Are Like… Well, You Know!
			Do We Read Watchmen for the Pictures?
			Watchmen as Hybrid
			So, Is Watchmen Literature or Not?
		Chapter 13: WATCHWOMEN
			She Fights Crime!
			Silk Stockings and Silk Spectres
			No Laughing Matter
			Mommy Dearest?
			We Leave It Entirely in Your Hands
		Chapter 14: HOODED JUSTICE AND CAPTAIN METROPOLIS: THE AMBIGUOUSLY GAY DUO
			“Those People” Are Unnatural
			The “Tab A Fits into Slot A” Argument
			They Act Out on Their Screwed-Up Desires
			Okay, but Don't Allow' Em to Marry Each Other!
			Should They All Be Rounded Up?
		Chapter 15: WHAT'S SO GODDAMNED FUNNY? THE COMEDIAN AND RORSCHACH ON LIFE'S WAY
			Understanding the Self: The Veidt Method
			Worms in the Apple
			In the End, a Man Stands Alone
			Let's Put These Jokers through Some Changes
			Never Surrender
			Never Look Down
	CONTRIBUTORS
	INDEX