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Product Description
Product Description
Is mind reading an invasion of privacy?
What's wrong with genetic experimentation?
How many identities can one person have?
Are the X-Men advocates of civil rightsand social change?
Do mutants have "human" rights?
X-Men is one of the most popular comic-book franchises ever, captivating millions with its teeming X-Verse of genetic mutants who have been unleashing their unique special powers in the service of both good and evil since 1963. Focusing on identity and personal conflict as much as action and adventure, this bestselling series is full of complex characters and storylines that are deeply influenced by important philosophical questions. Through philosophical greats like Aristotle, Sartre, Camus, Levinas, and others, X-Men and Philosophy shows how this remarkable series speaks not only to generations of pop culture audiences, but to the very heart of the human condition.
About the Author
Rebecca Housel is a professor of pop culture, creative writing, and medical humanities at Rochester Institute of Technology and contributed to Monty Python and Philosophy.
J. JEREMY WISNEWSKI is an assistant professor of philosophy at Hartwick College and the editor of Family Guy and Philosophy and The Office 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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Where that reviewer asks if the book's authors read the comic books, I would ask whether he/she read the book itself. Characters that appear exclusively in the comics (like Layla Miller) have entire chapters devoted to them, and one chapter's author even denounces the movies in favor of the comics. Not sure how he/she missed that...
Anyway.
"X-Men and Philosophy" is a must-have for Marvel fans. It explores every nook and cranny of the X-men universe and makes dozens of superb philosophical connections -- some of them expected, like the question of "what is normal and should we want it", and some more surprising, like the discussion of whether mind-reading is ethical. Just take a look at the table of contents and you'll see the wide spectrum that is explored in the book, all of it interesting.
The great thing about the book is how accessible it is. It's not just for people who are interested in philosophy, but for any smart person who has an interest in X-men. I felt that I was reading a book that explored X-Men from an intellectual point of view, including science and religion as well as straight-up philosophy. It's also incredibly engaging and personal. All or most of the chapters present concepts that apply not only to mutants but to us ordinary folk as well, and there are a lot of personalized examples that help a layperson relate to and understand what's being discussed. I felt like I was reading about myself as well as Kant and Magneto.
Ultimately it's a book that reaches a great balance between scholarly philosophical discussion and colloquial easy-reading, and is interesting no matter what the reader's experience with philosophy. The writing is consistently witty and the subject matter is everything an X-Men fan could want. 5 stars!
Everything you've ever wondered within the context of America's favorite mutants is there, from "Is mind reading an invasion of privacy?" to "How many identities can one person have?"
Francis Bacon appears alongside Emma Frost, Immanuel Kant's teachings are applied to Phoenix, and complex ideas are pared down and placed within an easy-to-comprehend context.
Huzzah!
Listmania!
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