Contributors: The Philosophers Supreme viii Acknowledgments: By the Glorious Grandiloquence of Gratitude! Xiv Introduction: Opening the Book of the Vishanti 1 Part I “You’re Just Another Tiny, Momentary Speck within an Indifferent Universe” 3 1 Bargaining with Eternity and Numbering One’s Days: Medicine, Nietzsche, and Doctor Strange 5 George A. Dunn 2 Death Gives Meaning to Life: Martin Heidegger Meets Stephen Strange 17 Sander H. Lee 3 “Time Will Tell How Much I Love You”: A Nietzschean Übermensch’s Issues with Love and Friendship 25 Skye C. Cleary 4 Existentialism, Nihilism, and the Meaning of Life for Doctor Strange 35 Paul DiGeorgio Part II “Forget Everything That You Think You Know” 47 5 “Through an Orb Darkly”: Doctor Strange and the Journey to Knowledge 49 Armond Boudreaux 6 Forbidden Knowledge and Strange Virtues: It’s Not What You Know, It’s How You Know It 60 Tuomas W. Manninen 7 Doctor Strange, Socratic Hero? 68 Chad William Timm 8 Are We All “Looking at the World Through a Keyhole”?: Knowledge, Ignorance, and Bias 78 Carina Pape 9 Stephen Strange vs. Ayn Rand: A Doesn’t Always Equal A 88 Edwardo Pérez Part III “Reality Is One of Many” 99 10 Astral Bodies and Cartesian Souls: Mind‐Body Dualism in Doctor Strange 101 Dean A. Kowalski 11 Scientists, Metaphysicians, and Sorcerers Supreme 111 Sarah K. Donovan and Nicholas Richardson 12 “This Is Time”: Setting Time in Doctor Strange by Henri Bergson’s Clock 125 Corey Latta Part IV “A Man Looking at the World Through a Keyhole” 137 13 A Strange Case of a Paradigm Shift 139 Brendan Shea 14 Doctor Strange, the Multiverse, and the Measurement Problem 151 Philipp Berghofer 15 The Strange World of Paradox: Science and Belief in Kamar‐Taj 164 Matthew William Brake Part V “It’s Not About You” 175 16 The Otherworldly Burden of Being the Sorcerer Supreme 177 Mark D. White 17 The Ancient One and the Problem of Dirty Hands 191 Michael Lyons 18 They Also Serve Who Only Stand and Wong 197 Daniel P. Malloy 19 Doctor Strange, Master of the Medical and Martial Arts 207 Bruce Wright and E. Paul Zehr Part VI “I’ve Come to Bargain” 217 20 Is Dormammu Evil?: St. Augustine and the Dark Dimension 219 Andrew T. Vink 21 Doctor Strange and Leo Tolstoy: Brothers in Nonviolence? 228 Konstantin Pavliouts 22 Doctor Strange, Moral Responsibility, and the God Question 238 Christopher P. Klofft The Index of the All-Seeing Eye of Agamotto 250

Marvel Comics legends Stan Lee and Steve Ditko first introduced Doctor Stephen Strange to the world in 1963—and his spellbinding adventures have wowed comic book fans ever since. Over fifty years later, the brilliant neurosurgeon-turned-Sorcerer Supreme has finally travelled from the pages of comics to the big screen, introducing a new generation of fans to his mind-bending mysticism and self-sacrificing heroics. In Doctor Strange and Philosophy, Mark D. White takes readers on a tour through some of the most interesting and unusual philosophical questions which surround Stephen Strange and his place in the Marvel Universe. Essays from two-dozen Philosophers Supreme illuminate how essential philosophical concepts, including existentialism, epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics, relate to the world of Doctor Strange. Fans will find answers to all their Strange questions: How does Doctor Strange reconcile his beliefs in science and magic? What does his astral self say about the relationship between mind and body? Why is he always so alone? And what does he mean when he says we’re just “tiny momentary specks within an indifferent universe”—and why was he wrong? You won’t need the Eye of Agamotto to comprehend all that is wise within. Doctor Strange and Philosophy offers comic book fans and philosophers alike the chance to dive deeper into the world of one of Marvel’s most mystical superheroes.