Avengers Infinity Saga and Philosophy

Popular Culture and Philosophy #131

by Heather L. Rivera (Editor), Robert Arp (Editor)

In Avengers Infinity Saga and Philosophy, philosophers explore the momentous issues and the fascinating puzzles raised by Marvel’s compelling series of ● Is the Thanos snap truly an answer to overpopulation and famine, or is it simply indefensible mass murder on a cosmic scale?● Are the Avengers who try to stop Thanos dishing out justice or merely fighting a man who is himself just?● Captain America or Tony Stark—which leader holds the key to a civilized society?● Dr. Strange claims to sees 14,000,605 possible futures, in one of which Thanos is defeated. What does this tell us about the true nature of reality?● Sometimes your best just isn’t enough. How can we cope with inevitability?● How can the Soul Stone and the Binding of Isaac by Abraham help us understand the Infinity War saga?● Is Thanos a utilitarian? And if so, is his utilitarian calculus logically sound?● Would it be possible for a group like the Avengers to amass enormous power to fight for humankind, without themselves becoming a corrupt ruling class?● Can the past Nebula shooting the future Nebula cause her to cease to exist? Can you change the future by communicating with yourself or your family in the past?● Can Thanos be seen as the epitome of non-self-serving behavior, or is Thanos masking his own egoism with the lie that his altruistic mission is to bring the universe into balance?● Does Thanos show us the danger of living by an absolute moral compass, which allows us to see only what we believe to be “the right” with no variations or nuances?

Genres: Philosophy

294 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2020

About the author

Heather Rivera was born and raised in New York.

Heather has studied Philosophy with a specialty in Philosophy through Film, Evil, Metaphysics and Aesthetics for the past five years. She has written a book that shows connections between philosophical texts and films titled "The Problem with Evil". She has been invited to guest lecture at Suffolk County Community College regarding "Jean Baudrillard in relation to Art" and "Descartes as he relates to the film Inception". In addition to having her Philosophical discoveries through the media of films published in "Philosophy Now" magazine (Alice and Wonderland a philosophical view and Inception meets Philosophy), she has been invited to deliver papers at professional philosophy conferences (Long Island Philosophical Society).

In addition to Heather's writing and studies, she is also a popular emerging photographic artist. She has managed to break the photographer's mold by learning techniques on her own, and never being formally trained. Her self-taught photography has been regarded as daring, bold, and innovative by others in the photography world. Heather has a keen eye for what other people often see as mundane situations and puts a new twist on the everyday norm. Her conceptual art is often dark, full of emotions and truly makes the viewer rethink their initial reactions.

Reviews

[Britt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phew, well this book took a LOT longer than expected to finish. Not because I didn’t like it, but because it was SO DENSE. I pretty much only read one essay per day. I really enjoyed the philosophical look at my favorite movies, and how educational they were. Each “big word” was explained for a novice philosopher, and the humor helped ease the tension that can come up when you start to feel too dumb to read something like this.

Definitely recommend for every Marvel nerd!

[William Schram · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avengers Infinity War and Avengers Endgame were movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I didn't see either, so the book contains spoilers. I only watched the first Avengers movie, the only MCU movie I watched.

The book is Avengers Infinity Saga and Philosophy. It covers the philosophical issues presented in the movies. There are six sections with at least four essays in each. There are a total of thirty-one essays in the book.

We have essays focused on the Snap, Thanos as a character, whether the Hulk has a soul and other problems. The book is okay. It doesn't go too heavily into the complicated issues. It has a section that discusses time travel. I feel time travel is beyond the purview of philosophy, but then I remembered that time travel isn't real.

I enjoyed the book. Thanks for reading my review, and see you next time.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Avengers entry in the Popular Culture and Philosophy series is decent enough. Some of the essays were thematically repetitive, which may explain some lazy editing, including typos and misspelling of character names in the same sentence. Still, it is a fun enough read to look at the Avengers series through a philosophical lens.

[Mary Foxe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmed.