New Book: Superheroes and Philosophy

[Publius]

I Just picked up a new book and I was wondering if anyone else had seen/picked it up as well. It is called Superheroes & Philosophy: Truth, Justice & the Socratic Way and it is basically a look at the philosophy of superheroes from an academic standpoint. It is actually a very interesting read.

Amazon Page (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0812695739/qid=1115924689/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-3743503-2667066?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) Anyone seen and/or interested in it?

[Stray Cat]

I Just picked up a new book and I was wondering if anyone else had seen/picked it up as well. It is called Superheroes & Philosophy: Truth, Justice & the Socratic Way and it is basically a look at the philosophy of superheroes from an academic standpoint. It is actually a very interesting read.

Amazon Page (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0812695739/qid=1115924689/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-3743503-2667066?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) Anyone seen and/or interested in it?

I am so glad you posted this! I did NOT know of the book. Thanks muchly!

[EDIT: Unfortunately...
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Publius again.]

[Scifi_Toughguy]

I am so glad you posted this! I did NOT know of the book. Thanks muchly!

[EDIT: Unfortunately... ]
No worries, I'll rep him for you. ;)

[NeoSamurai]

Read it. Loved it. Only problems I had was it was such a cursory examination of the psyche of some characters and focused on movie interpretations a lot more than it did the comics.

[Publius]

Read it. Loved it. Only problems I had was it was such a cursory examination of the psyche of some characters and focused on movie interpretations a lot more than it did the comics.Agreed, the reason no doubt is because this is taken (like most such books) from a collection of academic papers. The academic papers usually concentrate more on the "what is happening now" (because that is what will "sell" at a conference) than the deeper classic roots of comics. You'll notice that the stuff that was written by comic book people generally don't mention the movies hardly at all (so far, I'm only about halfway through at the moment) and instead do focus much more tightly on non-movie characters.

A great read so far.

[Kirby]

Very interesting. I've been looking to create a PC whose secret ID is a psychologist that studies supers, this book might help out (even though it's just philosophy :) ).

[MattM]

Good evening sirs,

Matt Morris here, co-editor of the book. Glad you are all enjoying it!

All the essays were created specifically for the book, not just picked up and compiled. The reason many essays focus on the movies is twofold. One, the aim of the book is not just to give the hardcore comic fans something to think about (though that is an important one, given I'm one of those fans) but to also go after the regular joe. Comics don't get the respect they deserve. However, comic book movies are huge these days. We're hoping the average joe sees Spiderman, Batman Begins, etc. then wanders into the bookstore and sees the book, picks it up, and it rekindles his/her interest in comics as a legitimate artform that isn't just for kids. Also, some of the philosophers were more familiar with the movies than the books. (Notice the title is Superheroes and Philosophy- superheroes can be found in comics, books, tv, movies, etc.). We're thinking about doing a book just on comic books (not limited to superhero stories) at some point.

Thanks for picking it up!

Matt Morris

[FenrisUlf]

Saw it, read some of the essays and liked them. Maybe I'll pick it up this weekend.

I will say that even on a cursory reading I found it far superior to Fear and Loathing in Sunnydale (the Buffy & the philosophers book).

[Log-Man]

I've seen it, but I haven't been able to read it yet. This book is actually one of the reasons I created my library of heroic fiction as a semester project this year. Browsing through the graphic novels section of the local mega bookstore, I found a great number of books examining the world of superheroes from an academic perspective. It's become quite a phenomena. (De doo de doo doo.) I'm hoping to collect as many of these books as possible, money permitting.

Matt, glad to see you here! I'm looking forward to reading this one. :thumbup:

[TheEmerged]

Thanks for the head's up, I'll try to make room on the reading list for it!

[ThothAmon]

I'd like to see 'Supervillains and Philosophy' :bounce:

[gewing]

I'd like to see 'Supervillains and Philosophy' :bounce:


Wasn't that one of Nietzche's books?

[MisterBaldy]

I may just look into getting that book...very interesting.

I have this book...

Great American Comic Books by Ron Guolart (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0785355901/qid=1117410087/sr=8-14/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i9_xgl14/103-1966630-6696651?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

...it's definitely worth the read, especially to see how comics have evolved in America through the years.

[Vigil]

Sounds great. I'm reading the Star Trek Guide to Metaphysics right now and read The Gospel According to The Simpsons a while ago so it should be a great companion volume.

Any spoilers? We know that Dr. Manhatten is, essentially, a solipsist. Is Superman an scientific materialist? Is bats utilitarian?

Can't wait.

Vigil

[Zane_Marlowe]

I'd like to see 'Supervillains and Philosophy' :bounce:

*bump*

Forthcoming (http://www.opencourtbooks.com/categories/pcp.htm)

[Log-Man]

I'm actually reading Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul (http://www.amazon.com/Batman-Philosophy-Knight-Blackwell-Culture/dp/0470270306/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1234991125&sr=8-1) right now. It's by a different publisher, but it's quite good so far.

i don't think i have much interest in most of these titles, but there are a few listed there that I would like to check out.

[pinecone]

I Just picked up a new book and I was wondering if anyone else had seen/picked it up as well. It is called Superheroes & Philosophy: Truth, Justice & the Socratic Way and it is basically a look at the philosophy of superheroes from an academic standpoint. It is actually a very interesting read.

Amazon Page (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0812695739/qid=1115924689/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/103-3743503-2667066?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) Anyone seen and/or interested in it?

Thanx for the "heads up" I will look for this...

[wyldspirit]

There is also a book based on the philosphy of Watchmen. I read as much as I could before a hyper vigilant clerk at Borders bookstore got testy with me. Found it interesting.