The Virtues of Captain America: Modern-Day Lessons on Character from a World War II Superhero

Wiley Blackwell, 2014  |  Order from Amazon

UPDATED AND REVISED SECOND EDITION HERE!

Unlike the books I edited or co-edited on superheroes and philosophy, The Virtues of Captain America: Modern-Day Lessons on Character from a World War II Superhero is written solely by me—for better or for worse! Also, rather than presenting a survey of philosophical ideas presented through the lens of its topic, The Virtues of Captain America has a specific focus: showing how the "old-fashioned" ethical code of Steve Rogers is just as essential today as it was in the past, not only as a role model for individual character but also as a way out of America's current political divisiveness.

I had several goals in mind as I wrote this book:

• Similar to the approach of the Blackwell Philosophy and Popular Culture series, in this book I introduce basic concepts of moral philosophy, especially virtue ethics, using examples drawn from decades of Captain America stories. In particular, I wanted to address the complexity of moral decision-making, for which simple rules, formulas, and virtues can be a guide but never the final answer. For this reason, judgment is a constant theme in the book (and takes up an entire chapter in itself).

• I wanted to address the perception that Captain America's ethical code is anachronistic, simplistic, and "black and white." As I argue throughout the book, none of these could be farther from the truth. The ideals that ground Cap's ethics are timeless, and while his core principles may be simple, the process of using judgment to balance them to make moral decisions in specific circumstances is anything but black-and-white, as Cap shows time and time again in the comics.

• More ambitiously, I wanted to show that Captain America's relationship to his country—in particular, the way he emphasizes principle over politics—can help Americans in the real world to start to heal our radical political divisions. If we focus, as Cap does, on the core ideals of justice, equality, and liberty that Americans share, we can better put into context our differences of opinion regarding how best to put these ideals into practice.

• And, most personally, I wanted to share my love of this classic superhero character through his decades of stories in comics such as Captain America, Avengers, and the countless other titles in which he's appeared over the years (hundreds of which are cited in the book). In the process, I also pay tribute to the dozens of talented creators who have crafted his stories, starting with Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, and Stan Lee, and continuing with legends such as Jim Steranko, J.M. DeMatteis, Mark Waid, Ed Brubaker, and Paul Jenkins (just to name a few).

Here's three amazing endorsements from people I admire tremendously:

• “An illuminating, well-written volume that gives a whole new insight to Marvel Comics's Star-Spangled Avenger and what he stands for in the 21^st century.” Mark Waid, Marvel Comics writer

• “An intriguing look at one of the most iconic and misunderstood characters in the history of comics. This book proves that ‘Cap’ is no one-dimensional flag-waver:  he’s a fascinating and complex character who has continually reflected the changes in the equally complex nation he represents.” J.M. DeMatteis, Writer—Captain America, Moonshadow, Brooklyn Dreams

• "Captain America matters more now than ever, and this book proves it. Digging deep, Mark White excavates ‘Cap's’ complexity, highlighting lessons and virtues that can help heal America." William Irwin, General Editor of The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series

And from the first review of the book, by John Gray in New Statesman and The New Republic:

Enjoyable and consistently stimulating, presenting complex arguments in ways that will be accessible to just about any reader, The Virtues of Captain America is popular philosophy of a high order.

Dr. E. Paul Zehr reviewed the book on Amazon, saying:

I enjoyed "The Virtues of Captain America" immensely. ... I was very impressed by the narrative arc the author maintained throughout and the extensive use of carefully chosen and illustrative examples from real-life philosophers and the fictional superheroes in the Marvel Universe and beyond. ... I specifically enjoyed the idea of examining ethics and ethical perspectives from different historical periods and the concept of honor and "right action" that was explored in detail. ... I strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Captain America stories and for everyone who has any interest in the broader impact of comicbooks and superheroes on our society.

On Goodreads, msd from London reviewed the book, saying:

Mark D. White is fun and engaging, and as a professor of philosophy he knows his stuff when he's talking about the subject of Cap and ethics (he just happens to be a massive Cap fanboy too). ... This is an in depth look at what makes Captain America the man he is, and more importantly, what makes him the kind of man who should be emulated because of his virtues. White takes on philosophical concepts and dissects Cap, using comics as source (the book is filled with references to source material). ... It's clear that White is a big fan of the character, and he writes passionately about this superhero.

See also the reviews at SFcrowsnest, PurePolitics.com, and review31, as well as mentions in The Wall Street Journal and SciFiNow magazine (issue 90, pp. 32-37, pic at right).

I've started doing interviews for the book: hot off the presses is a two-part feature by Matt Price at The Oklahoman (article and reading list). Here's an early interview at Otakus & Geeks, another at PurePolitics.com, and a podcast interview with KSPC. More recently I've appeared on the Sam Sorbo Show and the Josh Tolley Show (MP3, starting about a quarter of the way in), Smith and Sabatino's debut broadcast on July 4, and The Dennis Miller Show on July 7 (clip).

My favorite interview was with Chauncey DeVega for his blog WARN, in which we discussed not only Cap and the book, but also academia and writing. (It's about 75 minutes long, but Chauncey provides a nice outline of our chat.)

UPDATE (June 6, 2016): Since the surprise revelations about Steve Rogers in the first issue of his new book, I have discussed him in the context of my book in several places, including a blog post at The Comics Professor, a Nerdsync podcast, and this Nerdsync video (which features the book prominently, I'm very happy to say):

 

UPDATE (July 5, 2020): Good Is In the Details podcast with Gwendolyn Dolske and Rudy Salo.

 

UPDATE (May 5, 2021): Captain America Comic Book Fans podcast with Rick Verbanas and Robert Lucius

 

UPDATE (November 2, 2022): A return visit with Rick and Bob at the Captain America Comic Book Fans podcast

 

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

   Introduction (available at Google Books)

1 Superhuman Ethics Class (available at Wiley Blackwell)

Utilitarianism | Deontology | A Civil War … of Ethics! | Virtue Ethics | Virtuous Deontology … No, Deontological Virtue … Maybe “Deontovirtue”?

2 Captain America as a Moral Exemplar

Can a Fictional Character Be a Moral Exemplar? | Aren’t Fictional Characters Liable to Be Perfect? | Fifty Years, Dozens of Writers … One Captain America?

3 Five Basic Virtues

Courage | Humility | Righteous Indignation | Sacrifice and Responsibility | Perseverance

4 Honor and Integrity

The Honor of Captain America | External Honor as Respect | Internal Honor as Integrity | Principle and Compromise | Duty and Sacrifice (Again)

5 Judgment

Making the Hard Decisions | Whose Right Answer? | Tragic Dilemmas and How to Avoid Them | “Black-and-White” or Red, White, and Blue? When Judgment Evolves | Hitting the Threshold

6 Principle and Politics

Patriotism: The Captain and America | Cosmopolitanism | The American Dream Versus the American Reality | “I’m a Hero, Not a Politician!” | Principle over Politics | Captain America in (Principled) Action: Secret Empire/Nomad, The Captain, Civil War

7 Can Captain America Help Us Achieve Greater Unity and Civility?

The “Divided States of America,” Then and Now | The Three Core American Ideals | Justice | Equality  | Liberty | Debating What We Disagree On While Recognizing What We Share | Now It’s Our Turn

 

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Below are some articles and blog posts I've written about Cap in the past (many of which laid the groundwork for the book):

• My Captain America op-ed from 2011, published in both The San Diego Union-Tribune and The Washington Times (PDF of print version), which serves well as an abstract of the book. (In fact, it was a large part of the proposal for it.)
• "Can Captain America Heal a Divided Nation?", at The Good Men Project (as well as here), which uses a storyline from the Ultimate Marvel Universe (not covered in my book) to address the issue of principle versus politics.
• "Are Captain America's Ethics Too Old-Fashioned for the 21st Century?", a blog post at Psychology Today that addresses the anachronist and "black-and-white" issues about Cap's moral code.
• "Can Captain America Show Us How to Be More Cosmopolitan?", a more recent Psychology Today blog post addressing Cap's worldly brand of patriotism.
• "What Can We Learn about Love from Captain America?", another Psychology Today post celebrating both the book's launch and Valentine's Day.
• Another piece from The Good Men Project extolling several of Cap's virtues, along with my GMP review of the first Cap movie.
• A piece from this very blog discussing Cap's sense of authority in the context of Stoic thought. (You can also click on Captain America at the right to see more posts on him, not all of which are worth listing here.)

Finally, I discussed Captain America, directly or indirectly, in a number of chapters in the Blackwell Philosophy and Popular Culture series:

• "Captain America and the Virtue of Modesty," in Superheroes: The Best of Philosophy and Pop Culture, edited by William Irwin, a free e-book collecting chapters from superhero-themed books in the series along with exclusive chapters on Cap and Thor.
• "Superhuman Ethics Class with the Avengers Prime," a survey of the three main schools of ethics using Thor, Iron Man, and Cap, from my edited volume The Avengers and Philosophy: Earth's Mightiest Thinkers. (Note that here, Cap is cast as the deontologist while Thor is the virtuous one; in The Virtues of Captain America I explain why virtue ethics and deontology both help to characterize Cap's ethics.)
• "Did Iron Man Kill Captain America?", an essay addressing Tony Stark's role in the Marvel "Civil War," particularly in contrast to Cap (another recurring theme in my new book), from my edited volume Iron Man and Philosophy: Facing the Stark Reality.
• "'My Name is Peter Parker': Unmasking the Right and the Good," in which I cast Peter Parker as the prize in Iron Man and Cap's moral tug-of-war during the Civil War, from J.J. Sanford's edited volume Spider-Man and Philosophy: The Web of Inquiry. (I revisit this theme in this blog post.)