Green Lantern and Philosophy - call for abstracts

Here's the announcement for my latest project:

Call for Abstracts

Green Lantern and Philosophy


Edited by Jane Dryden and Mark D. White


The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series


Please circulate and post widely.


To propose ideas for future volumes in the Blackwell series please contact the Series Editor,
William Irwin, at wtirwin@kings.edu.


Abstracts and subsequent essays should be philosophically substantial but accessible, written to engage the intelligent lay reader. Contributors of accepted essays will receive an honorarium.


Possible themes and topics might include, but are not limited to, the following:

Willpower and the emotional spectrum: what’s the relationship?; The Yellow Impurity: The nature of fear; Parallax and moral responsibility; Sympathy for Sinestro: Can good be accomplished through fear?; Green Lantern, Space Cop: What is Green Lantern’s authority on Earth?; Hal Jordan or Guy Gardner: The role of moral luck; Helping orange skins and purple skins, but not black skins? Noble Lies: Telling the truth about the Book of Oa; Green Lanterns and social responsibility; John Stewart and the philosophy of architecture; “Snowbirds Don’t Fly”: Anti-drug messages in comics; The responsibility of gods: Ion and absolute power; Terry Berg and the treatment of hate crimes; Guardians and Zamarons: Gender and Emotion; Magic versus Science: Alan Scott and the Starheart; Was Jade really a Green Lantern—or was she more?; Green Lantern and Green Arrow: Superheroes and friendships; Go, Mogo, Go: Can a planet be alive?; Rebel with a Cause: Hal Jordan and authority; “Women in Refrigerators”: The portrayal of female victimhood in comics; Green boxing gloves: Does Green Lantern use his power in the best way?; Hal Jordan, the Spectre: Green Lanterns, the Guardians, and God; Alpha Lanterns: Do Green Lanterns need “internal affairs”?; Do Heroes Kill? Green Lanterns and the Use of Lethal Force; Love among the Lanterns: Right or Wrong?; Soranik Natu: Can a doctor be a Green Lantern?; The Mosaic, xenophobia, and integrationism; Power relations between Green Lanterns and Guardians; Ring of Gyges, ring of Green Lantern: The temptations of power; Kingdom of Ends: What constitutes a moral community like the Green Lantern Corps across species?; Using the ring for universal law, not particular goods: is this principle always worth upholding?; “I’m still the pretty one”: The meaning of Green Lantern costumes; Living up to legacy: The role of Alan Scott; Rewriting the Book of Oa: The role of tradition and law; Green Lanterns behaving badly: Do heroes need to be morally unblemished?; The chaos of life and the order of death: Guardians, Lanterns and Manhunters; The role of myth in Green Lantern identity



Submission Guidelines:

1. Submission deadline for abstracts (100-500 words) and CV(s): June 15, 2009

2. Submission deadline for first drafts of accepted papers: September 8,2009.

3. Submission deadline for finals drafts accepted papers: November 15, 2009

Kindly submit abstract (with or without Word attachment) and CV by email to:

Jane Dryden (janedryden@gmail.com)