Call for Abstracts: Spider-Man and Philosophy
Irwin, William
Call for Abstracts
Spider-Man and Philosophy
Edited by Jonathan J. Sanford
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 wti...@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: jsan...@gwia.franciscan.edu
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