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WATCHMENAND PHILOSOPHY EDITED by Can We Justify Ozymandias’S Grand Plan? MARK D

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WATCHMENAND PHILOSOPHY EDITED by Can We Justify Ozymandias’S Grand Plan? MARK D PHILOSOPHY/POP CULTURE IRWIN SERIES EDITOR: WILLIAM IRWIN WATCHMEN EDITED BY Can we justify Ozymandias’s grand plan? MARK D. WHITE Does Dr. Manhattan really know what’s going to happen in the future? Is the Comedian actually a comedian (or just a jerk)? Can either Silk Spectre be considered a feminist? Does Nite Owl’s paunch actually make him virtuous? AND PHILOSOPHY ATCHMEN is the most critically acclaimed graphic novel ever published Wand turned the world of comic superheroes on its head. This masterpiece of realistic storytelling, dialogue, and artwork, courtesy of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, raises a host of compelling philosophical questions. How do Ozymandias and Rorschach justify their actions? What are the political ramifi cations of the Comedian’s work for the government? How do we explain the nature of Dr. Manhattan? And can a graphic novel be considered literature? Whether you’re reading Watchmen for the fi rst time or have been a fan for more than twenty years, Watchmen and Philosophy will help you read deeper into the philosophical questions and the revolutionary story that changed comic fi ction forever. 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. A RORSCHACH TEST WATCHMEN 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 AND PHILOSOPHY Philosophy, House and Philosophy, and Watchmen and Philosophy. } A RORSCHACH TEST $17.95 USA/$21.95 CAN { } EDITED EditedBY by WHITEWHITE BLACKWELL PHILOSOPHY AND POP CULTURE SERIES This book has not been approved, licensed, or sponsored by any entity or person involved in creating or producing Watchmen, the comics, graphic novel, or film. ftoc.indd viii 12/3/08 8:04:00 PM WATCHMEN AND PHILOSOPHY ffirs.indd i 12/3/08 8:02:46 PM The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series Series Editor: William Irwin South Park and Philosophy Edited by Robert Arp Metallica and Philosophy Edited by William Irwin Family Guy and Philosophy Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski The Daily Show and Philosophy Edited by Jason Holt Lost and Philosophy Edited by Sharon Kaye 24 and Philosophy Edited by Richard Davis, Jennifer Hart Week, and Ronald Weed Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy Edited by Jason T. Eberl The Offi ce and Philosophy Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski Batman and Philosophy Edited by Mark D. White and Robert Arp House and Philosophy Edited by Henry Jacoby X-Men and Philosophy Edited by Rebecca Housel and Jeremy Wisnewski ffirs.indd ii 12/3/08 8:02:46 PM WATCHMEN AND PHILOSOPHY A RORSCHACH TEST Edited by Mark D. White John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ffirs.indd iii 12/3/08 8:02:46 PM Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans- mitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750–8400, fax (978) 646–8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permis- sion should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748–6011, fax (201) 748–6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifi cally disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fi tness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profi t or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762–2974, outside the United States at (317) 572–3993 or fax (317) 572–4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Watchmen and philosophy : a Rorschach test / edited by Mark D. White. p. cm. —(The Blackwell philosophy and pop culture series) Includes index. ISBN 978-0-470-39685-8 (pbk.) 1. Moore, Alan, 1953- Watchmen. 2. Comic books, strips, etc.—Moral and ethical aspects. I. White, Mark D. PN6728.W386W38 2009 741.5'942—dc22 2008045525 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ffirs.indd iv 12/3/08 8:02:47 PM CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: They Left It Entirely in My Hands ix Introduction: A Rorschach Test 1 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 5 Christopher Robichaud 2 Can We Steer This Rudderless World? Kant, Rorschach, Retributivism, and Honor 19 Jacob M. Held 3 Super-Vigilantes and the Keene Act 33 Tony Spanakos 4 Superheroes and Supermen: Finding Nietzsche’s Übermensch in Watchmen 47 J. Keeping PART TWO THE VEIDT PLAN: WATCHMEN AND ETHICS 5 Means, Ends, and the Critique of Pure Superheroes 63 J. Robert Loftis v ftoc.indd v 12/3/08 8:03:59 PM vi CONTENTS 6 The Virtues of Nite Owl’s Potbelly 79 Mark D. White 7 Rorschach: When Telling the Truth Is Wrong 91 Alex Nuttall PART THREE THE METAPHYSICS OF DR. MANHATTAN 8 Dr. Manhattan, I Presume? 103 James DiGiovanna 9 A Timely Encounter: Dr. Manhattan and Henri Bergson 115 Christopher M. Drohan 10 Free Will and Foreknowledge: Does Jon Really Know What Laurie Will Do Next, and Can She Do Otherwise? 125 Arthur Ward 11 I’m Just a Puppet Who Can See the Strings: Dr. Manhattan as a Stoic Sage 137 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 157 Aaron Meskin 13 Watchwomen 173 Sarah Donovan and Nick Richardson 14 Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis: The Ambiguously Gay Duo 185 Robert Arp ftoc.indd vi 12/3/08 8:04:00 PM CONTENTS vii 15 What’s So Goddamned Funny? The Comedian and Rorschach on Life’s Way 197 Taneli Kukkonen CONTRIBUTORS: Who Writes about the Watchmen? 215 INDEX: After the Masquerade 221 ftoc.indd vii 12/3/08 8:04:00 PM ftoc.indd viii 12/3/08 8:04:00 PM ACKNOWLEDGMENTS They Left It Entirely in My Hands I would like to thank Bill Irwin for his ongoing stewardship on this series; he is as closely involved with every book as a series editor can be, and every book carries his indelible stamp. I thank Eric Nelson and Connie Santisteban at Wiley, not only for their continued editorial and promotional support, but also for their love of Watchmen and their undying support of this book. My most emphatic thanks go to the contributors, who brought their unique perspectives on Watchmen to this book. Finally, on behalf of everyone involved with this book, I thank Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, without whom the world of comics, literature, and popular culture would be sorely lacking. ix flast.indd ix 12/3/08 8:04:24 PM flast.indd x 12/3/08 8:04:25 PM INTRODUCTION A Rorschach Test When I picked up the fi rst issue of Watchmen from my comic book store in 1986, I had no idea what I was holding in my hands. (After all, I probably picked up the latest Booster Gold in the same trip!) But a few pages in, I had a feeling that some- thing was different, and by the end of the fi nal issue, I knew that comics had changed forever. In Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons gave us a glimpse of what a world with costumed heroes might actually look like— and it wasn ’ t pretty. This was not the shiny “ world of tomorrow ” that was so familiar from the Superman comics. The world of Watchmen surpassed even the grim and gritty Gotham City and Hell ’ s Kitchen of Frank Miller ’ s Batman and Daredevil stories. These were not your noble, perfect, shiny heroes, either — Nite Owl could be your Uncle Al, and Rorschach could be the crazy guy down the street who talks to pigeons (and thinks they talk back). Even Dr. Manhattan doesn ’t seem to know what to do with his nearly limitless power. And the Comedian, a man with no superpowers who is allowed to run amok with the sanction of a very corrupt state, may possibly be the most frightening — and realistic — aspect of Watchmen.
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