Watchmen and Philosophy: A Rorschach Test

Watchmen and Philosophy: A Rorschach Test

Alan Moore's Watchmen is set in 1985 and chronicles the alternative history of the United States where the US edges dangerously closer to nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Within this world exists a group of crime busters, who don elaborate costumes to conceal their identity and fight crime, and an intricate plot to kill and discredit these "superheroes." Alan Moore's Watchmen popularized the graphic novel format, has been named one of Time magazine's top 100 novels, and is now being made into a highly anticipated movie adaptation. This latest book in the popular Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series peers into Moore's deeply philosophical work to parse and deconstruct the ethical issues raised by Watchmen's costumed adventurers, their actions, and their world. From nuclear destruction to utopia, from governmental authority to human morality and social responsibility, it answers questions fans have had for years about Watchmen's ethical quandaries, themes, and characters.

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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 Watchmen and Philosophy.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: They Left It Entirely in My Hands. Introduction: A Rorschach Test. PART ONE: THE POLITICS OF POWER: WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN? 1 The Superman Exists
and He's American: Morality in the Face of Absolute Power (Christopher Robichaud). 2 Can We Steer This Rudderless World? Kant
Rorschach
Retributivism
and Honor (Jacob M. Held). 3 Super-Vigilantes and the Keene Act (Tony Spanakos). 4 Superheroes and Supermen: Finding Nietzsche's Ubermensch in Watchmen (J. Keeping). PART TWO: THE VEIDT PLAN: WATCHMEN AND ETHICS. 5 Means
Ends
and the Critique of Pure Superheroes (J. Robert Loftis). 6 The Virtues of Nite Owl's Potbelly (Mark D. White). 7 Rorschach: When Telling the Truth Is Wrong (Alex Nuttall). PART THREE: THE METAPHYSICS OF DR. MANHATTAN. 8 Dr. Manhattan
I Presume? (James DiGiovanna). 9 A Timely Encounter: Dr. Manhattan and Henri Bergson (Christopher M. Drohan). 10 Free Will and Foreknowledge: Does Jon Really Know What Laurie Will Do Next
and Can She Do Otherwise? (Arthur Ward). 11 I'm Just a Puppet Who Can See the Strings: Dr. Manhattan as a Stoic Sage (Andrew Terjesen). PART FOUR: THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHER'S COMIC BOOK. 12 "Why Don't You Go Read a Book or Something?" Watchmen as Literature (Aaron Meskin). 13 Watchwomen (Sarah Donovan and Nick Richardson). 14 Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis: The Ambiguously Gay Duo (Robert Arp). 15 What's So Goddamned Funny? The Comedian and Rorschach on Life's Way (Taneli Kukkonen). CONTRIBUTORS: Who Writes about the Watchmen? I N DEX: After the Masquerade.