White M., Irwin W. (eds.) Watchmen and Philosophy: A Rorschach test

Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2009. — 238 p. — (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series) — ISBN: 978-0-470-39685-8 (pbk.)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.Introduction: A Rorschach TestThe politics of power: who watches the Watchmen?The Superman Exists, and He’s American: Morality in the Face of Absolute Power
Can We Steer This Rudderless World? Kant, Rorschach, Retributivism, and Honor
Super-Vigilantes and the Keene Act
Superheroes and Supermen: Finding Nietzsche’s Übermensch in WatchmenThe veidt plan: Watchmen and ethicsMeans, Ends, and the Critique of Pure Superheroes
The Virtues of Nite Owl’s Potbelly
Rorschach: When Telling the Truth Is WrongThe metaphysics of Dr. ManhattanDr. Manhattan, I Presume?
A Timely Encounter: Dr. Manhattan and Henri Bergson
Free Will and Foreknowledge: Does Jon Really Know What Laurie Will Do Next, and Can She Do Otherwise?
I’m Just a Puppet Who Can See the Strings: Dr. Manhattan as a Stoic SageThis is not your father’s comic book“Why Don’t You Go Read a Book or Something?”. Watchmen as Literature
Watchwomen
Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis: The Ambiguously Gay Duo
What’s So Goddamned Funny? The Comedian and Rorschach on Life’s WayContributors: Who Writes about the Watchmen?
After the Masquerade