Although these outlandish figures in their capes, masks,
and tights … are often dismissed as juvenile amusements,
they really are profound metaphors for different approaches
to shaping one’s character.
— Travis Smith
Characters in our coming-of-age stories represent ideas.
Among the superheroes and epic quests for identity and teen love triangles we can find philosophical markers. All literature deals in one way or another with the human condition. Our students’ tremendous interest in these adventures gives us an avenue to consider higher-level topics in philosophy.
As a starting point, let us assign a school of thought to each superhero. This doesn’t work, not really. But in its failure, we can find some interesting connections.
Capitalism … Iron Man / Tony Stark, Bruce Wayne, Scrooge McDuck
Existentialism … Dr. Strange, Silver Surfer
Nationalism … Captain America
Nihilism … The Joker, Galactus, The Comedian
Colonialism … Tarzan, Asterix, Tintin, Curious George, Babar
Afrofuturism … The Black Panther
Zen Buddhism … Dr. Manhattan
Relativity … The Flash, Agent Carter
Libertarianism … Batman
Social justice … Watchmen,
Prejudice and The Other … X-Men, the Thing
Feminism … Wonder Woman
Our Place in the Cosmos … The Fantastic Four
Social Collectivism … Society of Green Lanterns
Monarchy… Thor, The Inhumans
The Cult of Fitness … Batroc the Leaper
Rationalism … Reed Richards
Absurdity, Dadaism … Deadpool
American Exceptionalism … Sgt. Rock, The Rawhide Kid
The Black Widow does not seem to me to be truly Russian, so I will not tie her to the Soviet system in my chart. Solomon Kane dresses like a Puritan and has a fatalistic approach to life that reflects predestiny and Calvinism, but he is a pulp hero, so he remains off the list. Charlie Brown. Lucy and Snoopy have spawned a small library of books detailing the Peanuts philosophies, but I cannot place them with any single school of thought.
The self-doubting Spiderman is one of the more philosophical of heroes, constantly giving thought and consideration to what he is doing. Doubt is a powerful element of both faith and philosophy. A key characteristic of Spidey / Peter Parker is his questioning the nature of his own gifts and his place in the scheme of things. The Silver Surfer, who suffers inner turmoil at his role in destroying planets, even more so, also the Black Panther. The Siegel and Schuster Superman was among the least self-aware of heroes. While that has changed in recent Kal-El portrayals, Superman’s origin story and historical context work against re-casting him as Hamlet.
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