Examines important philosophical issues and questions, such as: What is it to
Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
INTRODUCTION 1
PART ONE THE SPECTACULAR LIFE OF SPIDER-MAN?
1 Does Peter Parker Have a Good Life? 7
Neil Mussett
2 What Price Atonement? Peter Parker and the Infinite Debt 22
Taneli Kukkonen
3 “My Name is Peter Parker”: Unmasking the Right and the Good 37
Mark D. White
PART TWO RESPONSIBILITY-MAN
4 “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”: Spider-Man, Christian Ethics, and the Problem of Evil 55
Adam Barkman
5 Does Great Power Bring Great Responsibility? Spider-Man and the Good Samaritan 70
J. Keeping
6 With Great Power Comes Great Culpability: How Blameworthy Is Spider-Man for Uncle Ben’s Death? 86
Philip Tallon
PART THREE SPIDER-SENSE AND THE SELF
7 Why Is My Spider-Sense Tingling? 103
Andrew Terjesen
8 Red or Black: Perception, Identity, and Self 119
Meaghan P. Godwin
9 With Great Power: Heroism, Villainy, and Bodily Transformation 131
Mark K. Spencer
PART FOUR ARACHNIDS “R” US: TECHNOLOGY AND THE HUMAN, ALL TOO HUMAN
10 Transhumanism: Or, Is It Right to Make a Spider-Man? 145
Ron Novy
11 Maximum Clonage: What the Clone Saga Can Teach Us about Human Cloning 159
Jason Southworth and John Timm
PART FIVE YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN
12 Justice versus Romantic Love: Can Spider-Man Champion Justice and Be with Mary Jane at the Same Time? 177
Charles Taliaferro and Tricia Little
13 Love, Friendship, and Being Spider-Man 188
Tony Spanakos
14 Spidey’s Tangled Web of Obligations: Fighting Friends and Dependents Gone Bad 200
Christopher Robichaud
PART SIX THE AMAZING SPEAKING SPIDER: JOKES, STORIES, AND THE CHOICES WE MAKE
15 The Quipslinger: The Morality of Spider-Man’s Jokes 217
Daniel P. Malloy
16 The Sound and the Fury behind “One More Day” 231
Mark D. White
17 Spider-Man and the Importance of Getting Your Story Straight 243
Jonathan J. Sanford
CONTRIBUTORS 257
INDEX 263
