Spider-Man and Philosophy - call for abstracts

I'm not editing it, but here's another comics-related book announcement:

Call for Abstracts
Spider-Man and Philosophy

Edited by Jonathan J. Sanford

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:
Is Peter Parker a philosopher?; Is there room for God in the universe of Spider-Man?; Peter Parker, Spider-Man, and the problem of personal identity; Does Peter Parker, post spider-bite, become something other than human?; The Amazing Spider-Man and genetic therapy; Peter Parker, Ben Reilly, and the Clone Wars: flesh of my flesh?; Just how does Spidey-sense work?; Does Peter really have a choice?; Aunt May and moral wisdom; Do Peter’s book smarts have anything to do with moral wisdom?; The scope of responsibility: should Peter feel guilt over the death of Uncle Ben?; Great power, responsibility, and the foundations of obligation; Is Peter virtuous, or just continent?; Is Mary Jane morally superior to Peter?; Doctor Octopus and the passions; Peter Parker, adolescence, and moral maturity: why is Peter so insecure?; What makes a hero?; Is Spider-Man a deontologist, a virtue ethicist, or neither?; Character and responsibility for one’s character: the case of Harry Osborn; Character and moral transformation: the case of Harry Osborn; The Spider-Man villains and consequentialism; Pride and the anti-hero; Spider-Man and the problem of evil: where does the Venom Symbiote really come from?; Spider-Man, the Venom Symbiote, and moral purification; Spider-Man, Sandman, and forgiveness; Is Mary Jane a feminist?; Peter Parker, equality, and friendship: can a superhero have non-superhero friends?; Gwen Stacy: superheroes and death; J. Jonah Jameson and obsession; The Daily Bugle, media, and manipulation; Uncle Ben, Aunt May, and what makes a family; Fathers and sons: what happened to the Osborns?; Superheroes and the limits of community; Superheroes, exceptional types, and the common good: the Green Goblin vs. Spiderman; and the unmasking of Spider-Man; Peter Parker and life as narrative.

Submission Guidelines:
1. Submission deadline for abstracts (100-500 words) and CV(s): June 1, 2009
2. Submission deadline for first drafts of accepted papers: September 1,2009.
3. Submission deadline for finals drafts accepted papers: November 2, 2009
Kindly submit by e-mail (with or without Word attachment) to:
J.J. Sanford: jsanford@gwia.franciscan.edu

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)

New cover for Watchmen and Philosophy

The second printing of Watchmen and Philosophy will sport this new cover - nice, isn't it?

Watchmen op-ed and Reuters article

Big day today - my Watchmen op-ed was published in the Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), and a Reuters article about Watchmen and Philosophy (and the Blackwell series in general) was published by Reuters (and available at MSNBC.com, Forbes.com, and elsewhere).

Watchmen and Philosophy interview

Check out my interview for Watchmen and Philosophy at WatchmenComicMovie.com - I had a fantastic time taking with Glenn, who runs the site, and the interview came out wonderfully.

Iron Man and Philosophy: Call for Abstracts

Call for Abstracts

Iron Man and Philosophy

Edited by Robert Arp and Mark D. White

The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series

Please circulate and post widely.
Apologies for Cross-posting.

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:
Virtue ethics, Iron Man, and the superhero as moral inspiration; Communism vs. capitalism in Iron Man stories; S.H.I.E.L.D. and the justification of counter-terrorist rights infringement; Iron Man’s revelation of his identities, contractual agreements, and contractual loopholes; The Illuminati, paternalism, and liberalism; The Superhuman Registration Act and the limits of privacy; Iron Man, Plato’s Philosopher King, and the Noble Lie; Genius, invention, and creativity; Role/responsibility of a futurist; If science can do it, should science do it? Weapons of mass destruction and the ethics of technology; Vengeance on my kidnappers: Is revenge ever justified?; Time travel in Iron Man stories, the Butterfly Effect, and determinism; God is dead: Iron Man as the replacement god; Human suffering, the Problem of Evil, and Iron Man as savior; Merging the two Starks (Pocket and Marvel universes) and the question of what counts as personal identity; Iron Man’s “living armor” and the possibility of artificial intelligence; Depictions of Masculinity: Iron Man and Iron John; Robotics, Heidegger, and technology; Capturing consciousness in computer: Mind as computer (Hypervelocity); Iron Man and Captain America: The pragmatist and the idealist; Stark’s alcoholism and the possibility of freedom for the addict; Social pressure and self-deception in Iron Man stories; Civil War: Are (bad) decisions judged by their intentions or consequences?

Submission Guidelines:
1. Submission deadline for abstracts (100-500 words) and CV(s): August 15, 2008.
2. Submission deadline for first drafts of accepted papers: February 1, 2009.

Kindly submit by e-mail (with or without Word attachment) to:
Robert Arp: rarp@buffalo.edu

Watchmen and Philosophy: Call for Abstracts

Call for Abstracts
Watchmen and Philosophy

Edited by Mark D. White

The Blackwell Philosophy and PopCulture Series


Please circulate and post widely.
Apologies for Cross-posting.


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:
How Watchmen Revolutionized Comics; The Graphic Novel as Serious Literature; Superheroes and the State: The Keene Act and the legal suppression of superheroes; The Amorality of the Comedian; A Man without a Face: Rorschach and Identity; Superheroes and Warfare: Dr. Manhattan and the Comedian in Vietnam; The Comedian and “Protecting People from Themselves”: Should We Cede Responsibility to Authority?; Superheroes and Capitalism: The Branding of Ozymandias; The Silk Spectre: Woman as Sexualized and Peripheralized in the Hero Narrative; Legacy Heroes and Identity: Will the Real Silk Spectre Please Step Forward?; Homosexuality and Superheroes: Should Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis Have Been Out?; Is There a God?: Is the world really “a clock without a craftsman?”; Determinism and Dr. Manhattan’s Knowledge of the Future; Kitty Genovese and Good Samaritan laws; Dr. Manhattan and the Philosophy of Time Travel; Responsibility for Character: Rorschach’s childhood; Watchmen and Deconstruction of the Superhero; Rorschach and the Ethics of Vigilantism; The Ring of Gyges and the Responsible Use of Superpowers; Rorschach and Rand: Objectivism, Individualism and Sacrifice; Veidt and the Will to Power; Dr. Manhattan, Veidt, and the Übermensch; Camus, Dr. Manhattan and the Absurd; “Existence is random, has no pattern”: So what’s the meaning of life? Tales of the Black Freighter: Metafiction in the Watchmen

Submission guidelines:

1. Submission deadline for abstracts (100-500 words) and cvs: March 31, 2008
2. Submission deadline for first drafts of accepted papers: June 16, 2008
3. Submission deadline for final papers August 11, 2008

Kindly submit by e-mail (with or without Word attachment) to:
Mark D. White profmdwhite@hotmail.com

Call for papers: Batman and Philosophy (edited book)

Since this has come up in the comments, I'll just mention this here:

Call for Abstracts

Please circulate and post widely.

Apologies for Cross-posting.

Batman and Philosophy

Edited by Mark D. White and Robert Arp

The Blackwell Philosophy and PopCulture Series
William Irwin, Series Editor (wtirwin@kings.edu)

To propose ideas for future volumes in the Blackwell series please contact William Irwin (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:

• The dynamic duo and dualism
• The aesthetics of the Batman universe
• The flip of a coin: Two-Face and determinism
• Batman and the ethics of collateral damage
• Batman and the ethics of vigilantism
• Batman or Bruce Wayne: which is his 'true' identity?
• “What’s it like to be a Batman?”: subjectivity and the mind/body problem
• Appearance, reality, and the importance of masquerade
• Gotham City, political corruption, and the need for heroes
• Bruce Wayne and Batman, the morning star and the evening star: sense, reference, and the problem of naming
• Batman and the ethics of child care
• Batman and the recurring Messiah complex
• Knowing Bruce Wayne and knowing Batman: propositional attitudes and substance dualism
• Batman and the use/abuse of technology
• Bats, confronting fears, and moral courage as a motivator for action
• Heroes and obligatory vs. supererogatory acts
• Batman’s deontological respect for Robin vs. a villain’s objectification of his/her henchmen
• The death of god and the birth of god-like heroes in Western societies
• Batman and paranoia: what kind of hero builds a satellite to spy on his friends?
• Batman and Superman: Different means to the same end, or different ends altogether?
• Batman and identification: can there truly be another Batman
• Batman and dealing with the recurrence of death (parents, Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown)
• Playing well with others: Batman and other heroes/teams
  
  Contributor guidelines:
  1. Abstract of paper (100-500 words).
  2. CV or resume for each author and co-author.
  3. Submission deadline for abstracts: April 27, 2007
  4. Submission deadline for first drafts of accepted papers (tentative): August 31, 2007
  5. Abstracts should be submitted by e-mail, with or without Word attachment.

Send by e-mail to: Mark D. White (profmdwhite@hotmail.com)