The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy

222 Pages·2011·1.77 MB·English

by  Eric Bronson

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments: Confidential Sources

Introduction: The Girl Who Kicked the Sophists’ Nest

Part One: Lisbeth “The Idiot” Salander

Chapter 1: Labeling Lisbeth: Sti(e)gma and Spoiled
Identity

The Right to Remain Sullen

I Know You Are but What Am I?

Girls, Interrupted

Chapter 2: The Mis-Education of Lisbeth Salander and
the Alchemy of the At-Risk Child

Knowledge Is Power

No Child Left Unharmed

Intellectual Gifts

Panoptic Power

Teach . . . Your Children Well

I Don’t Wanna Be Learned!

Chapter 3: The Girl Who Turned the Tables: A Queer
Reading of Lisbeth Salander

“I Am Also an Alien”: The Girl Who Was Not One

The Masculinity of Violence
“I Can Be a Regular Bitch. Just Try Me”

“You Have the Right to Remain Silent”

Sexuality and Representation

Part Two: Mikael “Do-Gooder” Blomkvist

Chapter 4: Why Are So Many Women F***ing Kalle
Blomkvist?: Larsson’s Philosophy of Female Attraction

All Out of Love

Lonely Is the Night

Even the Nights Are Better

The One That You Love

Just as I Am

Chapter 5: Why Journalists and Geniuses Love Coffee
and Hate Themselves

A Krona for Your Thoughts

Let Them Eat Cake! (but First, a Cup of Coffee)

The Lost Café

One for the Road

Chapter 6: The Making of Kalle Blomkvist: Crime
Journalism in Postwar Sweden

The Journalist as a Mouthpiece for Political Power

The Journalist as a Critic of the Welfare State

The Journalist as an Interpreter of the Culture of Violence

The Journalist as a Crime Scriptwriter

One Hundred Cases of Deadly Violence
In the Footsteps of Heroes

Part Three: Stieg Larsson, Mystery Man

Chapter 7: The Philosopher Who Knew Stieg Larsson:
A Brief Memoir

Exposing Extremist Activities

Stieg as a Writer

Anti-Semitism as a Litmus Test

Disclosing the Sweden Democrats

A Determined Democrat

Feminism and Honor Killings

Against Pseudoscience

Racist Pseudoscience

Stieg as a Skeptic

Stieg as a Fiction Writer

Chapter 8: “This Isn’t Some Damned Locked-Room
Mystery Novel”: Is The Millennium Trilogy Popular
Fiction or Literature?

Popular Fiction and Locked Rooms: Why Do We Enjoy
Mysteries?

War of the Words: Fiction with a Purpose

It’s All Relative: Culture, Fiction, and Literature

Stieg Larsson and the Girl Who Redefined Crime Fiction?

Chapter 9: Why We Enjoy Reading about Men Who
Hate Women: Aristotle’s Cathartic Appeal
“Bring Me the Man-Killing Ax!”

Aristotle’s Catharsis

Nussbaum’s Clarification

Salander’s Satisfying Revenge

Chapter 10: The Dragon Tattoo and the Voyeuristic
Reader

Escapism or Exposure?

The Desensitized Audience

Lisbeth Salander: A Complex Heroine

Part Four: “Everyone Has Secrets”

Chapter 11: Hacker’s Republic: Information Junkies in
a Free Society

What Is a Hacker?

The Hacker Ethic

The Hacker Millennium

The Mighty Citizen

Watching the Watchers

The Hornet’s Nest

Chapter 12: Kicking the Hornet’s Nest: The Hidden
“Section” in Every Institution

Just a Few Bad Apples or the Whole Darn Tree?

Keeping Order versus Achieving Justice

Institutions and Patriarchy: Men Who Hate Women
Chapter 13: Secret Meetings: The Truth Is in the
Gossip

Can I Trust You with This?

What’s Mine Is Mine (Unless You Take It)

The Grapevine Goes Digital

Small Talk about Big People

Why I Can Trust You with This

Part Five: 75,000 Volts of Vengeance Can’t Be Wrong,
Can It?

Chapter 14: The Principled Pleasure: Lisbeth’s
Aristotelian Revenge

Punishment and Revenge

Best Served Cold

Rhetoric of Revenge

Chapter 15: Acting Out of Duty or Just Acting Out?:
Salander and Kant

Criminal Intent

Heroes and Hacks

Practical Help

The Injustice System

Chapter 16: To Catch a Thief: The Ethics of Deceiving
Bad People

The Journalist Who Fights Fire with Fire

Salander’s Principles
Contributors: The Knights of the Philosophic Table

Index: Code Words
The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture
Series

Series Editor: William Irwin
South Park and Philosophy

Edited by Robert Arp
Metallica and Philosophy

Edited by William Irwin
Family Guy and Philosophy

Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski
The Daily Show and Philosophy

Edited by Jason Holt
Lost and Philosophy

Edited by Sharon Kaye

24 and Philosophy

Edited by Jennifer Hart Weed, Richard Davis, and Ronald Weed
Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy

Edited by Jason T. Eberl
The Office and Philosophy

Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski
Batman and Philosophy

Edited by Mark D. White and Robert Arp
House and Philosophy

Edited by Henry Jacoby
Watchmen and Philosophy

Edited by Mark D. White
X-Men and Philosophy

Edited by Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski
Terminator and Philosophy

Edited by Richard Brown and Kevin Decker
Heroes and Philosophy

Edited by David Kyle Johnson
Twilight and Philosophy

Edited by Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski
Final Fantasy and Philosophy

Edited by Jason P. Blahuta and Michel S. Beaulieu
Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy

Edited by Richard Brian Davis
Iron Man and Philosophy

Edited by Mark D. White
True Blood and Philosophy

Edited by George Dunn and Rebecca Housel
Mad Men and Philosophy

Edited by James South and Rod Carveth

30 Rock and Philosophy

Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski
The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy

Edited by Gregory Bassham
The Ultimate Lost and Philosophy

Edited by Sharon Kaye
Green Lantern and Philosophy

Edited by Jane Dryden and Mark D. White
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy

Edited by Eric Bronson