The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy: Everything Is Fire (The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series)

The essential companion to Stieg Larsson's bestselling trilogy and director David Fincher's 2011 film adaptation Stieg Larsson's bestselling Millennium Trilogy--The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest--is an international phenomenon. These books express Larsson's lifelong war against injustice, his ethical beliefs, and his deep concern for women's rights. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy probes the compelling philosophical issues behind the entire trilogy. What philosophies do Lisbeth Salander and Kant have in common? To catch a criminal, can Lisbeth and Mikael be criminals themselves? Can revenge be ethical? Drawing on some of history's greatest philosophical minds, this book gives fresh insights into Larsson's ingeniously plotted tale of crime and corruption. * Looks at compelling philosophical issues such as a feminist reading of Lisbeth Salander, Aristotelian arguments for why we love revenge, how Kant can explain why so many women sleep with Mikael Blomkvist, and many more * Includes a chapter from a colleague of Larsson's--who worked with him in anti-Nazi activities--that explores Larsson's philosophical views on skepticism and quotes from never-before-seen correspondence with Larsson * Offers new insights into the novels' key characters, including Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, and investigates the author, Stieg Larsson As engrossing as the quest to free Lisbeth Salander from her past, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy is ideal reading for anyone interested in unraveling the subtext and exploring the greater issues at work in the story. ERIC BRONSON is a visiting professor in the Humanities Department at York University in Toronto, Canada. He is the editor of Baseball and Philosophy and Poker and Philosophy and the coeditor of The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy and the forthcoming The Hobbit and Philosophy. WILLIAM IRWIN is a professor of philosophy at King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. 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 House and Philosophy, Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy, and Mad Men and Philosophy. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Confi dential Sources xv Introduction: The Girl Who Kicked the Sophists' Nest 1 PART ONE: LISBETH "THE IDIOT" SALANDER 1 Labeling Lisbeth: Sti(e)gma and Spoiled Identity 7 Aryn Martin and Mary Simms 2 The Mis- Education of Lisbeth Salander and the Alchemy of the At- Risk Child 19 Chad William Timm 3 The Girl Who Turned the Tables: A Queer Reading of Lisbeth Salander 33 Kim Surkan PART TWO: MIKAEL "DO-GOODER" BLOMKVIST 4 Why Are So Many Women F***ing Kalle Blomkvist?: Larsson's Philosophy of Female Attraction 49 Andrew Terjesen and Jenny Terjesen 5 Why Journalists and Geniuses Love Coffee and Hate Themselves 65 Eric Bronson 6 The Making of Kalle Blomkvist: Crime Journalism in Postwar Sweden 75 Ester Pollack PART THREE: STIEG LARSSON, MYSTERY MAN 7 The Philosopher Who Knew Stieg Larsson: A Brief Memoir 91 Sven Ove Hansson 8 "This Isn't Some Damned Locked- Room Mystery Novel": Is The Millennium Trilogy Popular Fiction or Literature? 107 Tyler Shores 9 Why We Enjoy Reading about Men Who Hate Women: Aristotle's Cathartic Appeal 120 Dennis Knepp 10 The Dragon Tattoo and the Voyeuristic Reader 128 Jaime Weida PART FOUR: "EVERYONE HAS SECRETS" 11 Hacker's Republic: Information Junkies in a Free Society 141 Andrew Zimmerman Jones 12 Kicking the Hornet's Nest: The Hidden "Section" in Every Institution 155 Adriel M. Trott 13 Secret Meetings: The Truth Is in the Gossip 166 Karen C. Adkins PART FIVE: 75,000 VOLTS OF VENGEANCE CAN'T BE WRONG, CAN IT? 14 The Principled Pleasure: Lisbeth's Aristotelian Revenge 181 Emma L. E. Rees 15 Acting Out of Duty or Just Acting Out?: Salander and Kant 189 Tanja Barazon 16 To Catch a Thief: The Ethics of Deceiving Bad People 198 James Edwin Mahon CONTRIBUTORS: The Knights of the Philosophic Table 211 INDEX: Code Words 217