Holy Philosophy, Batman!by Amy Scheer

“Where do superheroes come from? Where do they get their powers? … Who decides to leave the house wearing tights and sporting a cape?”

Northwestern professor Randy Jensen in “Batman’s Promise,” an essay in Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul

Northwestern prof explores how philosophy relates to popular culture

Without warning they came.

Good memories of philosophy classes crashed down on the unhappy chemistry major. Shaken but not defeated, he emerged from the rubble promising to pursue the field with a vengeance. He soared through graduate school on his newfound quest, a once-undisciplined student transforming himself into a pedigreed philosopher ready to save the world.

“Philosophy can help,” says superthinker and philosophy professor Randy Jensen. And though he won’t pin down exactly what that means (“There is no agreed-upon definition of philosophy”), he’ll get you thinking, which is exactly the point.

Jensen contributes regularly to the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, with essays in books such as Batman and Philosophy, Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy, The Office and Philosophy, and 24 and Philosophy.

“It’s a kind of evangelism for the discipline,” he says of the books. His essays’ light, witty tone is the perfect foil for teaching serious philosophical concepts as they intersect with popular culture’s current hits. When it bothers you that Dwight Schrute of The Office calls himself “assistant regional manager” instead of “assistant to the regional manager,” turn to Jensen for definitions of deception and self-deception. And when in the course of a very long day you see 24’s Jack Bauer face yet another moral dilemma, join Jensen in wrestling with ethics and moral theory.

Ultimately, the Northwestern professor wants readers to appreciate philosophy on its own merits.

“To become interested in philosophy is to become curious, to become interested in life’s big—and little—questions,” he says. “While we might start by wondering what we think of Jack Bauer’s latest attempt to save the world, we can end up reflecting on what we do and how we treat people—and that’s a good thing.”

Battling Evil

In his essay “Batman’s Promise,” Jensen points out that Batman’s mission—to rid Gotham City of crime—is a promise he makes to his murdered parents before he has acquired the skills necessary to carry it out. Jensen, too, knows a little about how life’s circumstances can send you into territory you’re not fully prepared to enter. In 1995, his father died of cancer at the age of 55, not long before Jensen’s first daughter was born.

“It was a defining moment for me. I teach pretty regularly on the problem of evil—why do bad things happen in God’s world? Well, that was a pretty awful thing for me, on an existential level. Of course, I already knew that lots of good people die in horrible ways, so in a sense this added nothing new to the world. But when you’re living out some philosophical issue, you’re motivated to work through it in a more urgent way, and ‘solutions’ that might have seemed acceptable may sound hollow.”

Jensen appreciated the chance to explore issues of death and the afterlife in his essay “Resurrection One Piece at a Time” for Johnny Cash and Philosophy. In Cash’s songs and life, Jensen writes, “No matter how bad things may get … there’s always hope that things will be made right.”

 Regarding his dad’s death, Jensen says, “Philosophy didn’t make the experience less painful. But it helped me to work through how I felt and what I thought, to make sense of it all as best I could. And I needed to do that, perhaps because of the kind of person I am.”

To the Rescue

What kind of a person is a philosopher? Brown tweed coat, plaid bow tie? Clark Kent glasses?

“I’d like to think I don’t always wear those glasses,” Jensen says. But try as he might to occasionally change out of his philosopher getup, his wife can attest otherwise. “There’s the occupational hazard of asking questions about everything. Conversations can take that sort of turn. That’s when Darlene says, ‘Hey, I was telling you something about my day—I didn’t want to be interrogated about it!’”

You may want to think twice before inviting a philosopher to your New Year’s Eve party, then, but consider consulting one on the important matters of the day. This constant thinking is the philosopher’s superpower, and Jensen would like to see more of his colleagues on the public scene. On ethical issues of stem cell research, for example, philosophers need a panel seat right up there with the scientists and theologians.

“We can help,” he says. [Cue theme music.]