Acknowledgments: They Left It Entirely in My Hands ix Introduction: A Rorschach Test 1 Part One The Politics of Power: Who Watches The Watchmen? 1 The Superman Exists, and He’s American: Morality in the Face of Absolute Power5 Christopher Robichaud 2 Can We Steer This Rudderless World? Kant, Rorschach, Retributivism, and Honor 19 Jacob M. Held 3 Super-Vigilantes and the Keene Act 33 Tony Spanakos 4 Superheroes and Supermen: Finding Nietzsche’s Übermensch in Watchmen 47 J. Keeping Part Two The Veidt Plan: Watchmen and Ethics 5 Means, Ends, and the Critique of Pure Superheroes 63 J. Robert Loftis 6 The Virtues of Nite Owl’s Potbelly 79 Mark D. White 7 Rorschach: When Telling the Truth Is Wrong 91 Alex Nuttall Part Three The Metaphysics of Dr. Manhattan 8 Dr. Manhattan, I Presume? 103 James DiGiovanna 9 A Timely Encounter: Dr. Manhattan and Henri Bergson 115 Christopher M. Drohan 10 Free Will and Foreknowledge: Does Jon Really Know What Laurie Will Do Next, and Can She DoOtherwise? 125 Arthur Ward 11 I’m Just a Puppet Who Can See the Strings: Dr. Manhattan as a Stoic Sage 137 Andrew Terjesen Part Four This Is Not Your Father’s Comic Book 12 “Why Don’t You Go Read a Book or Something?” Watchmen as Literature 157 Aaron Meskin 13 Watchwomen 173 Sarah Donovan and Nick Richardson 14 Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis: The Ambiguously Gay Duo 185 Robert Arp 15 What’s So Goddamned Funny? The Comedian and Rorschach on Life’s Way 197 Taneli Kukkonen Contributors: Who Writes about the Watchmen? 215 Index: After the Masquerade 221

Can we justify Ozymandias’s grand plan? Does Dr. Manhattan really know what’s going to happen in the future? Is the Comedian actually a comedian (or just a jerk)? Can either Silk Spectre be considered a feminist? Does Nite Owl’s paunch actually make him virtuous? WATCHMEN is the most critically acclaimed graphic novel ever published and turned the world of comic superheroes on its head. This masterpiece of realistic storytelling, dialogue, and artwork, courtesy of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, raises a host of compelling philosophical questions. How do Ozymandias and Rorschach justify their actions? What are the political ramifications of the Comedian’s work for the government? How do we explain the nature of Dr. Manhattan? And can a graphic novel be considered literature? Whether you’re reading Watchmen for the first time or have been a fan for more than twenty years, Watchmen and Philosophy will help you read deeper into the philosophical questions and the revolutionary story that changed comic fiction forever. To learn more about the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, visit www.andphilosophy.com