William Irwin is Herve A. LeBlanc Distinguished Service Professor in the Philosophy Department at King's College, Pennsylvania. Irwin's books include Little Siddhartha (2018), God Is a Question, Not an Answer (2018), and The Meaning of Metallica (2022). He is also the author of the novel Free Dakota (2016) and The Free Market Existentialist: Capitalism without Consumerism (2015).
Irwin is best known for having originated the philosophy and popular culture genre of books with Seinfeld and Philosophy (1999), The Simpsons and Philosophy (2001), and The Matrix and Philosophy (2002). He was editor of these books and then General Editor of the Popular Culture and Philosophy Series through Open Court Publishing. In 2006, Irwin left Open Court to become the General Editor of The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series, which includes Metallica and Philosophy (2007) and Black Sabbath and Philosophy (2012), among other volumes.
Untangle the complex web of philosophical dilemmas of Spidey and his world Since Stan Lee and Marvel introduced Spider-Man in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962, everyone’s favorite webslinger has had a long career in comics, graphic novels, cartoons, movies, and even on Broadway. In this book some of history’s most powerful philosophers help us explore the enduring questions and issues surrounding this beloved superhero: Is Peter Parker to blame for the death of his uncle? Does great power really… Read More
Does it take faith to be a Jedi? Are droids capable of thought? Should Jar Jar Binks be held responsible for the rise of the Empire? Presenting entirely new essays, no aspect of the myth and magic of George Lucas’s creation is left philosophically unexamined in The Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy. Read More
Explore the universe of Frank Herbert’s Dune in all its philosophical richness. “He who controls the spice controls the universe.” Tens of thousands of years into an intergalactic future, can humans endure or will we sacrifice what is most important in our humanity for power, glory, religion and of course, the control of the spice? Dune and Philosophy sets an intellectual course through sand and stars to find out. … Read More
