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Articles

“Comico, Ergo Sum”

Nathaniel Goldberg & Chris Gavaler say philosophers should read Descartoons.

What if an evil genius is tricking you into believing that the word around you is real when it really isn’t? What if on an alternate Earth everything is identical but for one almost undetectable detail? What if trying to travel to the past transported you to a different universe instead? What if a mad scientist has removed your brain and is keeping it alive in a vat of nutrients? What if lightning struck a dead tree in a swamp and transformed it into the Swampman?

Any of these fantastical plots could be the premise of a superhero comic. Indeed, Stan Lee sometimes gave writers at Marvel Comics no more to work with – just a note on a piece of paper or a plot point mentioned on the way to his desk. Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko would work out the details. Except none of those scenarios comes from comics: they’re all thought experiments written by highly regarded philosophers: René Descartes, Hilary Putnam, David Lewis, Hilary Putnam (again), and Donald Davidson respectively.

Fantastical concepts are a staple of philosophy.

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