Spider-Man and Philosophy

Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture #34

by Jonathan J. Sanford (Editor)

Untangle the complex web of philosophical dilemmas of Spidey and his world--in time for the release of "The Amazing Spider-Man" movieSince Stan Lee and Marvel introduced Spider-Man in "Amazing Fantasy" #15 in 1962, everyone's favorite webslinger has had a long career in comics, graphic novels, cartoons, movies, and even on Broadway. In this book some of history's most powerful philosophers help us explore the enduring questions and issues surrounding this beloved superhero: Is Peter Parker to blame for the death of his uncle? Does great power really bring great responsibility? Can Spidey champion justice and be with Mary Jane at the same time? Finding your way through this web of inquiry, you'll discover answers to these and many other thought-provoking questions.Gives you a fresh perspective and insights on Peter Parker and Spider-Man's story lines and ideasExamines important philosophical issues and questions, such as: What is it to live a good life? Do our particular talents come with obligations? What role should friendship play in life? Is there any meaning to life?Views Spider-Man through the lens of some of history's most influential thinkers, from Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant to Nietszche, William James, Ayn Rand, and Alasdair MacIntyre

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Comics, Audiobook, Marvel, Spider Man, Pop Culture

290 pages, ebook

First published April 10, 2012

Reviews

[Trevor · Rating 1 out of 5]

Christian propaganda

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read two books in this series; Metallica and Family Guy. They are a collection of essays which talk about philosophy in the context of the theme.

I've seen the Spider-Man films but haven't read the comics. It was interesting learning about some of the left-field story-lines like Spider-Man doing deals with the devil in the Civil War story.
There's a lot of discussion involving Uncle Ben and the quote “With great power comes great responsibility”, Spider-Man's duty to fight crime, and the idea of having a relationship whilst protecting them from harm.

It's an enjoyable read, and it's perfectly fine to read with only having knowledge from the films. If you know Aunt May, Uncle Ben, Mary Jane (MJ), Harry and Norman Osborn (Green Goblin), and Dr Octavius (Dr Octopus), then you will be fine with the majority of references.

[Ryk Stanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was OK. It was good. It was not bad.

Spider-Man is my guy, you know?. I identify with Peter Parker on a visceral level. Teenage Peter Parker, and teenage me. I’ve read Spider-Man for forty years now and have read all the issues that came before me.

I understand Spider-Man is what I’m saying.

And this book … it was okay.

I can’t tell exactly what it is that makes me feel as if I should hold back that fifth star, but … something.

For now, I’ll posit that I wanted a book more about the comic books than about the movie. This was maybe 40-60.

Yes, that’s it. I would have preferred a book that examined the philosophies of Spider-Man decade by decade and commented on the comic book as indicative of the social mindsets of the times.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will admit, I struggled with this one. It took me a few months to read because the material was so dense. Much of the material was interesting and learning about different facets of philosophy was fun, but some of the essays were repetitive and very similar to each other. I also wasn’t a huge fan of how several essays were of an extremely Christian mindset, even though several authors blatantly mention that Peter Parker is not Christian. Overall an interesting read that I picked up and put down several times over a few months. 3/5

[The_J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A web of inquiry Indeed. Even thought took me almost 8 years from initial purchase to finally complete, it is a quality exploration of a Modern Hero, and the consequences of Power and Responsibility for great and small.

[Hina Ansari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was one of the early issues of pop culture and philosophy and it is bereft of the countless errors and meandering that the subsequent issues have. I’d be curious to see how the new movies would be contextualized.

[Elliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of these pop culture philosophy books, this answers questions rather brilliantly and with a nice mix of comic/film knowledge.

[Daniel Farrelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd prefer if it was more specifically about spider-man and not 'philosophy 101 but then at the end they mention which philosopher spider-man would like the best' but whatev

[Ala · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun entertaining dive into the philosophy and morality of the story and characters of everyone's favorite super hero, his family, friends, and foes. A guaranteed fun read for any spider man fan.

[Nora Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this as a kid and it fundamentally changed the way I engaged with all comic books.

[Q · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as I was hoping. One of the weaker entries of the series.

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book because I'm a big fan of #spiderman and was curious what the philosophical take was on his character. This book is comprised of multiple essays from different authors that touch on various aspects and questions of Spidey's character and how philosophy answers, or at least approaches, those questions. FYI: the book was published in 2012, so it pulls information from the comics up until that point and only from the first live-action movies. 🕷

This book was a lot of fun to read and I firmly believe that I would've remembered a lot more from my college philosophy class if it had applied theories/views to fictional characters. 🤣 Each essay tackles an aspect of Spider-man such as his relationships, his powers, his responsibilities, Uncle Ben's death, and Spidey's jokes. These essays are very thought provoking and bring out a deeper level to the wall-crawler's personality and actions than I had previously thought. 🕷

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that enjoys Spider-man.
🕷

[Robert Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is part of the "Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series." Other books include BATMAN AND PHILOSOPHY, IRON MAN AND PHILOSOPHY, WATCHMEN AND PHILOSOPHY, AVENGERS AND PHILOSOPHY, FAMILY GUY AND PHILOSOPHY, HARRY POTTER AND PHILOSOPHY, TWILIGHT AND PHILOSOPHY...you get the idea.

...and it's a good idea: Pop culture properties provide the hook, and fans of those properties learn a little philosophy. Some may then be inspired to read more standard philosophical works. Those who don't will at least have an opportunity to think about what they read. That's never a bad thing I feel, even if "what you read" is funny books.

I found SPIDER-MAN AND PHILOSOPHY interesting, informative, and sometimes downright fun. The book is a collection of essays, and topics include:

*How would spider sense work, given what we know about perception and our senses?

*Does great power really equal great responsibility?

*To what extent can Spider-Man be blamed for Uncle Ben's death?

*What is Spider-Man's moral obligation to friends-turned-villains such as Harry Osborn?

A couple essays comment specifically on story lines from movies or comics. An essay on the Clone Saga, for example, examines the ethical debates on human cloning. I also really enjoyed the essay on whether Spider-Man acted out of character by making a deal with the devil in ONE MORE DAY (The author essentially concludes that Peter Parker was indeed out of character, but he first examines the nature of "character" and explains how real humans often act more inconsistently than fictional ones.).

Any thinking Spider-Fan should enjoy this one, and I may seek out more volumes in the series (My wife has already bought me THE AVENGERS AND PHILOSOPHY.).

[Kahn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being a comic geek of some years standing, I'm no stranger to proffering theories and wotnot on various characters and storylines - or over-thinking things to the Nth degree.
But this book takes things to a whole new level. Down, sadly, not up.
Things start off well, and the opening chapters make their case in a light-hearted, engaging manner as the life of Peter Parker (both in the books and the films) are looked at from the point of view of various philosophical stand-points.
But somewhere, the ideas run out of steam and what you're left with is a bunch of academics with too much time on their hands.
Looking at Peter Parker's sense of self, of if he's responsible for the Green Goblin's actions, might make the time fly by in the faculty canteen, but written down it reads like someone was busy trying not to do any real work.
And by the time we get analysing why he makes quips and gags, you can hear the barrel's bottom being scraped.
As the great Barry Cryer once said - dissecting comedy is like dissecting a frog, no one laughs and the frog dies.
Think I'll stick the Marvel universe in future.

[Agung Wicaksono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baca kedua kali buku ini dan jadi memahami tentang sikap, perbuatan, dan hal-hal dari karakter Spider-Man dkk. dalam sudut pandang filsafat. Salah satu hal yang dibahas adalah alasan Peter Parker yang menggunakan kekuatannya untuk membasmi kejahatan. Sejak kematian pamannya, Ben Parker, karena ditembak oleh pencuri, ia bertekad supaya tidak akan membiarkan kejahatan berkeliaran di sekitarnya. Dari sudut pandang moralitas, "Apakah sebenarnya Peter Parker berkewajiban melakukan aksi pahlawan tersebut? Dan perlukah ia terus-menerus menyalahkan dirinya akibat kematian pamannya? Padahal ada hal atau kejadian yang tidak bisa kita ramalkan di masa depan". Nah, itu bisa dijelaskan berdasarkan teori-teori filsafat di dalam buku ini.

[Cade Bengert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Serves as an interest introduction to philosophical concepts through the guise of a pop culture framework. The chapters are well thought out and organized. However, as an avid comics fan, I felt that certain contributors leaned too heavily on the films, rather than the primary texts. The concepts by large are no less valid by this emphasis, but it becomes quite obvious which contributors are comics fans themselves and sought out this work, and which were just sought out to submit a work.

[Eric F Knox]

Terrible, pretentious and painful book!

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

712 - 2014

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far my favorite of the philosophy and culture series.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting, thought-provoking book. Poor Peter Parker got dissected like a frog. XD. I agreed with some points, disagreed with others, and was confused by others, too.

[Amazingsomeone · Rating 3 out of 5]

You would be better off reading some other book in the series.