{"product_id":"joker-and-philosophy-isbn-9781394198474","title":"Joker and Philosophy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA philosophical exploration of Joker and the meaning of the iconic antagonist's murderous escapades\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA diabolically sinister but clownish villain, Joker is a symbolically rich and philosophically fascinating character. Both crazed and cunning, sadistically cruel but seductively charming, the Clown Prince of Crime embodies everything opposed to the positive ideals of order and justice defended by the Batman. With his enigmatic motivations, infectious irreverence, and selfless devotion to evil, Joker never fails to provoke a host of philosophical questions. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eJoker and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e plumbs the existential depths of the most popular of Gotham City's gallery of villains with an abundance of style, wit, and intelligence. Bringing together essays by a diverse panel of acclaimed scholars and philosophers, this engaging, highly readable book delves into the motivations, psychology, and moral philosophy of the character for whom mayhem and chaos are a source of pure delight. Easily accessible yet philosophically substantial chapters address the comics, animated movies, television shows, video games, and live-action films, including memorable portrayals by Heath Ledger in Christopher Nolan's \u003ci\u003eThe Dark Knight\u003c\/i\u003e and Joaquin Phoenix in Todd Phillips' \u003ci\u003eJoker\u003c\/i\u003e and its upcoming sequel \u003ci\u003eJoker: Folie à Deux.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eJoker and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e offers deep insights into moral and philosophical questions such as: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003eWhat is a sane response to a mad world?\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eCan laughter be liberating?\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eIs civilization a thin veneer over our natural lawlessness?\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eCan violence ever be justified in response to an unjust social order?\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eIs one bad day really all it takes to create a villain?\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e \u003cp\u003eExploring a broad range of timeless issues of human nature, the metaphysics of freedom, the nature of identity, good and evil, political and social philosophy, aesthetics, and much more, \u003ci\u003eJoker and Philosophy: Why So Serious?\u003c\/i\u003e is a must-read for all fans of one of the most fascinating villains in the DC comics universe. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes on Contributors ix\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIntroduction: \"There Were These Two Guys in a Lunatic Asylum …\" 1\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart I \"Is It Just Me or Is It Getting Crazier Out There?\"--Living with the Absurd 3\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1 It's All Just a Sick Joke: Joker, Batman, and the Absurd 5\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eErich Christiansen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2 \"Do I Look Like a Man with a Plan?\": The Joker as a Daoist Wild Card 14\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRyan Harte and Alba Curry\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3 The Dionysian Clown: Analyzing the Fool through Nietzsche's Philosophy 22\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMarco Favaro\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4 The Clown Prince of Chaos: Philosophy and the Fear of Indetermination 32\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAlberto Morán Roa\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart II \"I'm an Agent of Chaos\"--The Good, the Bad, and the Crazy 39\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5 Good and Evil: The Two Jokers in Plato's Deck of Cards 41\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJames Lawler\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6 Radical Evil, Diabolical Evil, and The Dark Knight's Joker 49\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGeorge A. Dunn\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e7 \"When the Chips Are Down, These Civilized People, They'll Eat Each Other\": The Joker's Anti-Hobbesian State of Nature 59\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eDamien K. Picariello\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e8 You Get What You F****** Deserve 68\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eGreg Littmann\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart III \"When You Bring Me Out, Can You Introduce Me as Joker?\"--Joker's Identity 77\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e9 From Momus to the Joker: Genealogy of an Anti-Hero 79\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMassimiliano L. Cappuccio\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10 Tell a Joke, Be a Hero: Joker and the Trickster Archetype 88\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eAndrea Zanin\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e11 The Contradictory Clown Prince of Crime 96\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eRoy T. Cook and Nathan Kellen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e12 \"If I Am Going to Have a Past, I Prefer It to Be Multiple Choice\": The Joker, Madness, and Metafiction 106\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJan Forsman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e13 Madness in Relation: The Autonomy of a Joke 117\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShaun Respess\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart IV \"Their Morals, Their Code-It's a Bad Joke\"--Joker's Justice and Political Philosophy 127\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e14 More on Joker: From Apolitical Nihilism to a New Left--Or Why Trump Is No Joker 129\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eSlavoj Zizek\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e15 \"If It Was Me Dying on the Sidewalk, You'd Walk Right over Me\": Joker's Guide to Responding to Injustice 139\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLuke Howie\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e16 Battleground Gotham: Joker's War on Capitalism 148\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eClint Jones\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart V \"Why So Serious?\"--Laughter, Humor, and Satire 157\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e17 In Praise of Joker 159\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eWalter Barta and Emily Vega\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e18 Joker--The Epitome of Humor in Three Silly Acts 169\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eJarno Hietalahti\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e19 Ha-Ha-Ha! I'm Going to Die!: Laughing at Death with Joker, Jerry, and Deleuze 176\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eCorry Shores\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e20 \"Perhaps Even Laughter Still Has a Future\": Joker's Carnivalesque Politics 186\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eUtku Cansu\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart VI \"You and I Are Destined to Do This Forever\"--Significant Others, Reason, and Sanity 197\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e21 \"Puddin'\" Her Place: Harley Quinn as Joker's Enslaved Lover 199\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eElizabeth Kusko and Caleb McGee Husmann\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e22 The Stoic Punchline of \"One Bad Day\" 207\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMatt Hummel\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e23 The Joke's on You: Brains, Responsibility, and the Myth of Mental Illness Revisited 215\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThomas D. Harter\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e24 Joker and the Need for Fathers and Family 225\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKody W. Cooper\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMASSIMILIANO L. CAPPUCCIO\u003c\/b\u003e is a Senior Researcher in the School of Engineering \u0026amp; Technology of the University of New South Wales Canberra, Australia. He has contributed to several \u003ci\u003ePop Culture and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e titles and edited a collection of essays on \u003ci\u003eThe Matrix.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eGEORGE A. DUNN\u003c\/b\u003e is a research fellow at the Institute for the Marxist Study of Religion in a New Era at Hangzhou City University, China, and a community associate at Indiana University Indianapolis. He is an editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Hunger Games and Philosophy \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eTrue Blood and Philosophy \u003c\/i\u003eand has written chapters in books in the \u003ci\u003eBlackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture \u003c\/i\u003eseries on \u003ci\u003eTerminator, Iron Man\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eBattlestar Galactica\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eMad Men\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJASON T. EBERL\u003c\/b\u003e is Professor of Health Care Ethics and Philosophy and Director of the Albert Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics, Saint Louis University, USA. He is the editor of \u003ci\u003eBattlestar Galactica and Philosophy \u003c\/i\u003eand co-editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSons of Anarchy and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Philosophy of Christopher Nolan\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhat is a sane response to a mad world?\u003cbr\u003e Can laughter be liberating? Is civilization a thin veneer over our natural lawlessness? Can violence ever be justified in response to an unjust social order? Is one bad day really all it takes to create a villain?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJoker is one of the most fascinating villains in the DC Comics universe. A diabolically sinister but clownish villain, he is both crazed and cunning, sadistically cruel yet seductively charming. He is the character most deeply connected to the Dark Knight, his most iconic antagonist and moral antithesis, embodying everything opposed to the positive ideals of order and justice defended by the Batman. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eJoker and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e, a squad of top-notch philosophical thinkers plumb the existential depths of the Clown Prince of Crime with an abundance of style, wit, and intelligence worthy of their roguish subject. Requiring no background in philosophy, this easily accessible book offers original insights into what makes this villain tick while probing the meaning of his murderous escapades. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith his enigmatic motivations, infectious irreverence, and selfless devotion to evil, Joker is a brightly colored puzzle whose perpetual grin and maniacal laugh provoke a host of philosophical questions, ranging across issues of morality, human nature, the metaphysics of freedom, the nature of identity, good and evil, political and social philosophy, aesthetics, and more—all of which are brilliantly explored in \u003ci\u003eJoker and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo learn more about the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, visit \u003cb\u003ewww.andphilosophy.com\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wiley-Blackwell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47989492252901,"sku":"NP9781394198474","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781394198474.jpg?v=1761784322","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/joker-and-philosophy-isbn-9781394198474","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}