Alan Moores Watchmen popularized the graphic novel format, has been named one of Time magazines top 100 novels, and is now being made into a highly anticipated movie adaptation. Things like lying, murdering innocents, etc are "wrong" while telling the truth, ending the life of a criminal, etc are "right". He originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books as coeditor of the bestselling The Simpsons and Philosophy and has overseen recent titles, including Batman and Philosophy, House and Philosophy, and Watchmen …  Jay Dyer joins Tim again to discuss the release of the new book, covering the analyses of films like The Godfather Trilogy, The Aviator, V for Vendetta, Watchmen, The Matrix, American Made, and many more! Ozymandias seems more rational but he became an inhuman madman too. On the outskirts of Mormon Country, Idaho, a six hundred pound recluse hides away in his apartment eating himself to death. Join. Alan Moore believes that Horror is a philosophy and a worldview, not an amusement park or funhouse for safe scares. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. (I couldn't find a good quality picture of the poster for Watchmen so this is the best I could do) The show begins with a young boy sitting alone in a movie theater watching the 1921 silent movie "Trust in the Law" directed and produced by African-American director, Oscar Micheaux. Moore wanted to add the extreme naturalist point of view to this debate. Watchmen is the perfect breeding ground for Reddit theories, like Mr. Directed by Zack Snyder, it stars an ensemble cast featuring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. They are the common folk who represent the reader in this abstract debate of what's right. Log In Sign Up. Why? When confronted by Dr. Manhattan he turns the tables and explains that Manhattan is just as responsible for what happened (more on why this is in the Dr's interest later). So of those, whose methodology would you go with? That's because he still had his humanity, something The Comedian sacrificed a long time ago. The Comedian- Deeply believes all humans are inherently violent, and treats any trouble makers to whatever means he sees fit, often being overly violent. Throughout the book we see him care for three things, none of which have ethical implications for humans. You can read four articles free per month. Hot. And to respond to a few comments down the thread: some may think that Ayn Rand is a deontologist or a Kantian. Please look around! Watchmen is a philosophical movie which tackles the problem of ethics — which moral system is the best? Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Maybe the Comedian was just a childish bastard who was just scared of Ozymandias' plan. Deontologists believe that the act in itself is the right thing to do, as oppose to utilitarians, who believe the result determines the rightness/wrongness of an action. Kant also said that you shouldnt use people as means, but Rorschach torturing people is using them as a means to the end of "justice". He is a European at heart, lover of Latinas, and currently residing in the USA. I love Rorschach because he demonstrates precisely why having principles ultimately doesnt work. He may be an egoist, but an ethical egoist would realize he needs to help others to advance himself. Copy link. His name is The Comedian, as in it's all a joke. Can we say the Comedian had some ethics in the end? But at the same time, we can sense he is a complex character... At some point, we see him crying in front of his worst enemy because he felt bad about Ozymandias' plan. He did lie when he was taking the Rorschach test. Hong Chau's Lady Trieu and her plan to impact all of humankind hasn't had much screentime HBO's Watchmen so far. God I wish more people would realize this about Rorschach. But when we think about it, isn't strange that The Comedian feels so bad about that plan? Both stories are by Alan Moore. Does this raise Euthyphro's Dilemma? Note: I think Night-owl has some symbolic weight as well, his is the unexamined life, a consumer living day to day with his neat toys, but without a framework of ethics, and with all of the impotence that brings. Having absolute moral principles only works if you deal with entirely static situations that do not vary. Time Magazine even listed it as one of the 100 Best Novels. It's a pretty awesome read. 1.1k. He ends the Vietnam War at the request of Nixon and others. His belief is the notion "that life is a game that only mugs and losers take it too seriously" (from Watchmen and Philosophy p. 200). I think it does show that utilitarianism requires a more blunt, large-scale action than deontology. I think the point of Rorschach is not that he has absolute ideals, but that he sees every action as being either absolutely moral or absolutely immoral. The Golden Rule (treat others as you would like others to treat you) is perhaps the best principle out there, but even this isnt completely robust. It promises to embrace the philosophy of Alan Moore's comic 'Who ... Rohit Sharma Cricket News Donald Trump YouTube Hollywood News WhatsApp Bollywood News Reddit … She exhibits this when she visits doctor manhattan and begs him to return to earth asking if he cared, not appealing to his reason, but the caring side of him. Watchmen co-creator Alan Moore has spoken on more than one occasion about how Rorschach was inspired by Steve Ditko’s characters Question and Mr. A. The Comedian do have a soul. And if so, can he follow the same ethics as his creations? A … User account menu. Press J to jump to the feed. H BO’s Watchmen was a smash-hit with critics in 2019, due to sharp writing, great production design, and memorable characters. It's not that he did 'what he wanted, when he wanted', it's that he always took the most morally repugnant action possible specifically so that people would see how horrible humanity can be and resolve to be better people themselves.It's why he's called the Comedian; because his life and character are a parody of humanity. He only acts on human affairs when prompted to by others. The main one of which is- who out of these supermen do you agree with? The Wolverine Watchmen group had been recruiting members on Facebook from November 2019 until June 2020, when Facebook began purging all boogaloo-related material. There is a definite cross-pollination between politics and philosophy in Watchmen. As presented in the first episode of Watchmen, the 7th Kavalry is a white supremacist organization whose members wear Rorschach masks.They were … Let's see. The graphic novel, originally published as a series in 1986-87, has long been heralded as the best novel of its kind. He's a clear nihilist. a very easy read, one that boils down kantian philosophy and morality in such a way as to relate it to each character in the book and explain it through their actions. Ozymandias is a utilitarian and a consequentialist. She's the one who convinces Dr. Manhattan to return to earth and again, it's not her ethical arguments which sway him. Christopher Robichaud is Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he teaches moral philosophy, political philosophy, and social epistemology. I don't have my book near by but I recall an exchange similar to this. One of the more interesting ways is as a battle of ethical theories, as represented by the heroes. 'Do not kill people'. This is best highlighted when he kills the Vietnamese prostitute he impregnated. But he is in no way a Kantian. His plan very simply aims to maximize pleasure. That's because as philosophical icons they are much more important: they're human. Without it, certain key plot points and … Videos you watch may be added to the TV's watch history and influence TV recommendations. The Comedian is an absurdist and a nihilist. It seems that in the end, the Comedian was more human that we all thought. Dr. Manhattan is an ethical nihilist, at least in regard to human events. ― Alan Moore, Watchmen. Oh, c'mon, sule - post the opening volley. I think it is rather a dialogue where both Ozymandias's Consequentialism and Rorschach's fascist caricature of Retributivist Deontology are both "wrong". His style is basically not sinking to the level of criminals. To have complete access to the thousands of philosophy … If January's story of Reddit Robin Hoods and ... Support Caffeine and Philosophy. In fact, he seems to be completely self-destructive, which is why he isn't an example of the Nietzschian Overman, and which is why I think the nihilist Moore sets him up as a way that even Nihilist use their "morality" as a way to justify their actions. And really, what else would you expect of a god? Tap to unmute. Whether or not this has interesting ethical implications is a good question in itself. The Comedian is an Ironist, coming from Kierkegaard's understanding of irony. The lifelong struggle for that is ethics according to Aristotle. Do the ends justify the means? It’s also, not unconnectedly, a meditation on the nature of free will and time – but I’ll leave you to piece those aspects of the film together. Watchmen satirizes the ideological extremities of comic book characters. Obviously characters like Rorschach and The Comedian are more extreme/irrational than the others, but the story makes a point to show how combining a team of such fundamentally incompatible, superpowered people (a la Justice League) would create absolute chaos in the real world. I think if anything, the comic showed the ambiguity that exists on deciding on which philosophy would be the less reprehensible one. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Press J to jump to the feed. Yet, his cynicism and "everything is a joke" view of the world allowed him to understand the plan before anyone else. The comedian doesn't strike me as an egoist(in any philosophically normal sense); he strikes me as completely detached from a belief in ethics. Damon Lindelof is done with Watchmen after tonight’s finale. He has contributed to the Wiley Blackwell volumes Batman and Philosophy, Superman and Philosophy, Watchmen and Philosophy, X-Men and Philosophy, Heroes and Philosophy, Spider-Man and Philosophy… Like “My left hand is a Rorschach blotch all its own, a six-fingered, skin-blood-and-bone ink splatter. with some excellent thinking points. Alan Moore has mentioned that he wrote Rorschach as everything that is wrong with Ayn Rand's philosophy, and that he was surprised fans loved him. How can Rorschach be both a Kantian and an embodiment of Objectivism? Although I am not a Kantian, Rorschach's way of life makes sense to me, and it makes his death tragic rather than insane. Dismisses any 'big plans' to try and solve humanity's problems as he thinks none will ever work. So, I would say it wasn't so much that Ozymandias convinced Manhattan, it was that Manhattan just doesn't care about humanity anymore, or at least doesn't care in a sense we can understand. I have to disagree that the Comedian is an ethical egoist. edit--Absurdism would certainly fit the name. I think that he's a nihilist who does what he does just because he can and not out of self-interest. You probably noticed I haven't mentioned the real protagonist, Night Owl II, or his love interest, Silk Spectre II. One that is premised on radical liberalism. Well, in regards to Manhattan, a key idea of the story was that Manhattan is growing further and further from humanity. He justifies his actions by arguing that others are really doing the same thing, they just are less honest about it. This is also one of the things many people think is so repugnant about utilitarian thought, how can you put a price on so many lives? He simultaneously experiences every moment of his life at once, he knows what he is going to do as, and before, he does it. Desperate to reconnect with his long-estranged daughter, he reaches out to her, only to find a viciously sharp-tongued and wildly unhappy teen. It is divided into four parts, each with three or four essays. the bi-monthly magazine for everyone interested in ideas. Believe me." It's examining politics and human nature by presenting a group of people with a totally dissonant spectrum of different perspectives, ideologies, opinions, reactions, actions, strengths, weaknesses. Therefore, I see having absolute principles as a cowardly and intellectually lazy way of thinking. This is much stronger in the book, but I think you could see it in the movie. Why does this matter in terms of film? 4 Blaise Pascal argued that the greatness and wretchedness evident in human beings is a puzzle that only Christianity adequately solves on the basis of the Fall and the fact that we are made in God’s image. Even the better that this ignorance allows, in the end, happiness. Is similar to The Comedian and remarked that he agreed with him on a few things, but Rorschach takes things much more seriously. But in real life, no situation is exactly the same, and almost anything is possible. Watchmen and Philosophy is a collection of essays by various instructors in the field, and is based strictly on the original graphic novel, with no references to the movie. I think it misses the philosophical depth of this character to say that she's not a symbol, she absolutely is, it's just that she symbolizes a form of ethics that rejects the assumptions of traditional male-oriented philosophy. Finally we have Dr. Manhattan, the hardest to place into an ethical theory because he lacks one. Doctor Manhattan (Dr. Jonathan Osterman), often shortened to Dr. Manhattan or simply Manhattan, is a fictional character who appears in comics published by DC Comics.He debuted in the graphic novel limited series Watchmen, published in 1986 and 1987.Doctor Manhattan was created by writer Alan Moore and artist Dave Gibbons..

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