If only there were decades worth of stories where Superman’s morality was defined and expanded upon to provide a reasonable template that lends to genuine analysis even in academic and philosophical studies.
Yes there are, do these stories not confirm Superman’s morality as a distinctly Western liberal/Judeo-Christian ideal of the virtuous individual standing above society and deciding what justice is?
It has a typical “we’ll save the world and decide what’s best” type of American arrogance to it, doesn’t it?
If you have any reading recommendations on the philosophical analysis I’m interested.
The thing about comics is that many of them have been going on for so long, for so many different generations and audiences, that they actually handle all kinds of different perspectives depending on which stories you look at. A common theme for a long time is actually contrasting Superman against the Ubermensch idea from Nietsche and the Nazi’s bastardized version of it, which is what led to things like Homelander (and Stormfront) in the Boys. There have always been many different perspectives on Superman, his powers, and his morality. The morality of WW2-era Superman is pretty different from Silver Age is pretty different from DCAU is pretty different from Snyder’s Superman, etc.
There are quite a few books about the philosophy of Superman out there. You can start with Superman and Philosophy: What Would the Man of Steel Do?, which is a compilation of academic essays analyzing Superman’s morality.
If only there were decades worth of stories where Superman’s morality was defined and expanded upon to provide a reasonable template that lends to genuine analysis even in academic and philosophical studies.
Yes there are, do these stories not confirm Superman’s morality as a distinctly Western liberal/Judeo-Christian ideal of the virtuous individual standing above society and deciding what justice is?
It has a typical “we’ll save the world and decide what’s best” type of American arrogance to it, doesn’t it?
If you have any reading recommendations on the philosophical analysis I’m interested.
The thing about comics is that many of them have been going on for so long, for so many different generations and audiences, that they actually handle all kinds of different perspectives depending on which stories you look at. A common theme for a long time is actually contrasting Superman against the Ubermensch idea from Nietsche and the Nazi’s bastardized version of it, which is what led to things like Homelander (and Stormfront) in the Boys. There have always been many different perspectives on Superman, his powers, and his morality. The morality of WW2-era Superman is pretty different from Silver Age is pretty different from DCAU is pretty different from Snyder’s Superman, etc.
There are quite a few books about the philosophy of Superman out there. You can start with Superman and Philosophy: What Would the Man of Steel Do?, which is a compilation of academic essays analyzing Superman’s morality.