ffirs.indd vi 1/28/09 6:27:26 PM X-MEN AND PHILOSOPHY ffirs.indd i 1/28/09 6:27:24 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 J. Jeremy Wisnewski Final Fantasy and Philosophy Edited by Jason P. Blahuta and Michel S. Beaulieu Heroes and Philosophy Edited by David Kyle Johnson Watchmen and Philosophy Edited by Mark D. White ffirs.indd ii 1/28/09 6:27:25 PM X-MEN AND PHILOSOPHY ASTONISHING INSIGHT AND UNCANNY ARGUMENT IN THE MUTANT X-VERSE Edited by Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ffirs.indd iii 1/28/09 6:27:25 PM This book is printed on acid-free paper. Copyright © 2009 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada Illustration credits: Page 115 by Emily S. Darowski and Joseph J. Darowski; page 200 by Dominique Thomas; page 207 by Nick Forst. 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PN6728.X2X24 2009 741.5'973—dc22 2008045526 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ffirs.indd iv 1/28/09 6:27:26 PM To mutants everywhere ffirs.indd v 1/28/09 6:27:26 PM ffirs.indd vi 1/28/09 6:27:26 PM CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Superheroic Thanks to X-tra Special Humans and Mutants Alike! xi Introduction: You Are About to Embark on an X-perience with “the Strangest Heroes of All” 1 X1: ORIGINS THE X-FACTOR IN THE EXISTENTIAL 1. The Lure of the Normal: Who Wouldn’t Want to Be a Mutant? 5 Patrick D. Hopkins 2. Amnesia, Personal Identity, and the Many Lives of Wolverine 17 Jason Southworth 3. Is Suicide Always Immoral? Jean Grey, Immanuel Kant, and The Dark Phoenix Saga 27 Mark D. White 4. X-istential X-Men: Jews, Supermen, and the Literature of Struggle 38 Jesse Kavadlo vii ftoc.indd vii 1/30/09 3:52:09 PM viii CONTENTS X2: EVOLUTION CONSCIOUSNESS, CONSCIENCE, AND CURE 5. Mad Genetics: The Sinister Side of Biological Mastery 53 Andrew Burnett 6. Layla Miller Knows Stuff: How a Butterfl y Can Shoulder the World 66 George A. Dunn 7. X-Women and X-istence 85 Rebecca Housel 8. Mutant Rights, Torture, and X-perimentation 99 Cynthia McWilliams 9. When You Know You’re Just a Comic Book Character: Deadpool 107 Joseph J. Darowski X3: UNITED HUMAN ETHICS AND MUTANT MORALITY IN THE X-VERSE 10. Magneto, Mutation, and Morality 125 Richard Davis 11. Professor X Wants You 140 Christopher Robichaud 12. Dirty Hands and Dirty Minds: The Ethics of Mind Reading and Mindwriting 153 Andrew Terjesen 13. The Mutant Cure or Social Change: Debating Disability 170 Ramona Ilea ftoc.indd viii 1/30/09 3:52:09 PM CONTENTS ix 14. Mutants and the Metaphysics of Race 183 Jeremy Pierce X4: THE LAST STAND WAR, TECHNOLOGY, DEATH, AND MUTANTKIND 15. Mutant Phenomenology 197 J. Jeremy Wisnewski 16. War and Peace, Power and Faith 209 Katherine E. Kirby 17. High-Tech Mythology in X-Men 223 George Teschner CONTRIBUTORS: And Now, We’d Like to Introduce the X-Perts: Ladies and Gentlemen, the Amazing, Astonishing, Uncanny, Ultimate Authors from Xavier’s School for Gifted Philosophers! 236 INDEX 241 ftoc.indd ix 1/30/09 3:52:10 PM ftoc.indd x 1/30/09 3:52:10 PM ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Superheroic Thanks to X - tra Special Humans and Mutants Alike! The editors wish to thank comic greats Stan Lee and the late Jack Kirby, the real X - perts! We’ d also like to thank series editor Bill Irwin for his X -vision and X - traordinary editorial instincts! Love ya, Bill! Special thanks go to our beloved contributors, whose lively intellects and creativity help make this volume a superpower - packed X - ploration into the vast space -time of the X - Verse. We also want to give our appreciation to Connie Santisteban, Eric Nelson, and the entire Wiley team for their publishing super- prowess. As for the mutants: Beast, for being both a science geek and a badass; Wolverine, for being short; Mystique for bringing blue back into fashion; Phoenix Force, for being the ultimate sentient cosmic force of life and death (c ’ mon!); and every other mutant superhero, either in the pages of a Marvel comic or in the recesses of a human mind yet to begin a great hero ’ s journey . Jeremy wishes to personally thank Meg Lonergan, now an old pro at making things happen; she did an X - cellent job helping with the copy editing and the index — keep it up, Sparky! Nico Meyering and Nick Forst read versions of the manuscript and offered some useful initial feedback. Nick gets an X- tra “ thank you ” for donating his illustrating abilities (and his imagination) to the book. (Nick is responsible for Jeremy ’ s inner superhero at the end of chapter 17 .) Jeremy is grateful to his wife, Dorothy, for putting up with his eccentricities (yet again), and his daughter, Audrey, for letting him play with her toys. xi flast.indd xi 1/28/09 6:28:44 PM xii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Rebecca would like to send special thanks to “ Mighty ” George Dunn, Bob Housel, Aaron Fields, Connie Santisteban, Stephanie “ Shadowcat ” Collins, and Marguerite Schwartz for lending super- vision to sections of the Marvel -ous manuscript. Bill Irwin gets a Giant - Sized shout out for reading countless e - mails over four years with eighties trivia and X - Men pleas. Tom Morris also gets a nod for accepting Rebecca’ s fi rst article ever (!) on X - Men in his 2005 Superheroes volume. Rebecca ’s sincere appreciation goes to her husband, Bob, who lovingly made superhuman efforts in the domestic sphere while Rebecca typed away into the wee hours of the morning, and to her son, Gary, who has been her comic partner - in - crime for the better part of the last twenty years. flast.indd xii 1/28/09 6:28:44 PM X-MEN AND PHILOSOPHY flast.indd xiii 1/28/09 6:28:44 PM flast.indd xiv 1/28/09 6:28:44 PM INTRODUCTION You Are About to Embark on an X - perience with “ the Strangest Heroes of All ” 1 The X - Men franchise has made billions of dollars over the last forty - fi ve years from major motion pictures, animated televi- sion shows, video games, and, of course, the best -selling comic series in American history. 2 The Marvel X - Verse is a large and diverse place full of complex storylines, timelines, seemingly endless characters (can you believe the fi rst volume started with only seven?!), and — of course — philosophy .