UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

FACULTY OF ARTS & LETTERS

Department of Philosophy

CASE STUDY TEMPLATE

SECTIO CASE SCO

Why Be a Superhero? Why Be Moral? #
N RE
ARTICLE TITLE / MOVIE
2COM
DATE 1
4 SUBMITTED April 23, 2020

1 AGULTO Rona Alondra T

CN SURNAME GIVEN NAME MI SUFFIX

4 ATACADOR Blessilda Beatriz E

CN SURNAME GIVEN NAME MI SUFFIX

14 DULDULAO Ma. Jessica P

CN SURNAME GIVEN NAME MI SUFFIX

INTRODUCTION
Supernatural abilities, celebrity-like popularity, skintight latex costumes, and a whole
cinematic universe –these are just some of the perks of being a superhero. We have always
been fascinated about the possibility of surpassing the current capabilities of human beings, of
being something or someone greater and more powerful than who we are right now. Thus, our
frustrations with defying the laws of nature manifested through the concept of superheroes.
When we say superhero, it is already a given that they are morally upright because they are
crime-fighters who defeat villains in pursuit of justice. They would not be superheroes if they
are on the bad side because that would probably make them the villains and not heroes,
obviously. In a world ruled by chaos and anarchy, superheroes pose as a beacon of hope for
regular citizens to look up to, heroes who serve as an inspiration to be better people. In his
essay, “Why Be a Superhero? Why Be Moral?”, C. Stephen Layman delved on the said
questions using the context of the famous superhero, Spider-Man. Layman attempted to
unravel the moral responsibilities accompanied by being a superhuman like Spider-Man. The
author also analyzed the more intriguing mystery underneath, “Why be moral?” He
contemplated on the good reasons to be moral and went through the possibilities of strong
reasons favoring or not favoring our moral duties. Furthermore, Layman enumerated and
scrutinized the reasons presented in Spider-Man on why we should be doing the right thing
rather than doing things out of self-interest by using different philosophical ideas and moral
theories. As Layman continued to investigate the details, he discovered that the question of
morality bears more philosophical mysteries involving the existence of deities, life after death
or the prevalence of good over evil.

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 Being moral does not require someone to be a “superhero”. One can be “super” or
noble without all those fancy costumes, super strength or flying abilities. As Confucius coins
it, a “gentleman” or the “superior man” is someone who practices virtue. We should practice a
virtuous life not because we want our stories to be adapted into a whole cinematic universe or
movie franchise, but because of the concept that Aristotle calls eudaimonia. Dimmock and
Fisher (2017) mentioned how Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics utilized the term eudaimonia to
depict the state that humankind would experience once they fully achieve a good life. In
addition, Aristotle emphasized that it is a state that all humans should aspire for because it is
the “aim and end of human existence” (p. 51). They further explained that eudaimonia has no
perfect translation, but considered eudaimonia understood as flourishing the most helpful
translation (ibid., p. 51). In the succeeding parts, it will be further explained how the concept
of eudaimonia is related to the reasons that C. Stephen Layman laid out in his article.

SUMMARY
“Why Be a Superhero? Why Be Moral?” is an article about morality of superheroes in
the context of the Spider-Man movie. It presented to us the dilemma of Spider-Man, the
superhero and; Peter Parker, the man behind the mask. It gave us subtle hints of classic
ideologies of morality in which the movie depicted. 

The author argued that if being moral does not benefit self-interest, then why be moral
at all? Furthermore, if you are moral because of your self-interest, doesn’t it show you are not
moral at all? This argument was further discussed in the article on why it arrived that one
should always choose to be moral, enumerating reasons which strengthened or supported his
position. 

The article presented five reasons to be moral, elaborated each with different scenarios
and argued whether the said reasons were sufficient enough to answer the question, “Why be
moral?”

The reasons presented are as follows:

ONE: If you fail to do your moral duty, there will be negative consequences that affect you,
directly or indirectly.

TWO: Because it is right.

THREE: Doing your duty is the only way you can have harmony in your soul (roughly, peace
of mind).

FOUR: Virtue is its own reward; that is, having a good moral character (having virtues) is
necessarily a greater benefit to you than any benefit you might obtain at the expense of your
good moral character.

FIVE: Being moral always pays in the long run, where “the long run” includes life after death.

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 This paper dived into the loaded obligations that come along with being a superhero –
“With great power comes great responsibility”. Layman reiterated that if the job entails
heavier moral burdens, then “Why be a Superhero? Would it be rational to do so?” is a
paralleled nod to the philosophical question, “Why be moral?” 

Does reality favor good over evil? Does God exist? Is there life after death?

ANALYSIS
Layman’s writing style was light, fun and can easily be understood. Since most
students or readers can be intimidated with topics related to philosophy, Layman’s choice of
tone and words were commendable because he made such a controversial topic into something
much easier and exciting to discuss. 

The author provided an in-depth discussion on the responsibilities hinged to being a

superhero, providing reasons why we should be moral; however, the reasons given, though
providing insight, still lack absolute conclusions–similar to every other existing philosophical
question. 

Whether this suffering is inflicted on yourself, your neighbor, or nature, an analysis

over Layman’s five prime reasons engages on the premise that being moral ensures a certain
order of how things lawfully fall into place. This order could be to ensure that you avoid
negative consequences (resonating with reasons one and five), to abide by moral duties that
are exclusive to human beings (reasons two and three), or to be rewarded either in our Earthly
life (the “short run”) or life after death (the “long run”) for choosing to live a virtuous life
(reasons four and five). Nevertheless, one thing we can address in our levels of analysis with
all five reasons discussed is that it bears in mind the concept of peace and suffering as a
heavily weighing factor to consider when making moral decisions. With that in mind, we enter
the world of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics –let’s talk about eudaimonia. 

Eudaimonia, from the epistemology of the word: ‘eu’ meaning ‘good’, and ‘daimon’
meaning ‘soul’ or ‘self’. Aristotle often talked about eudaimonia, if not emphasized on it the
most. He truly believed it to be the ultimate goal of our philosophical choices, but what does it
mean? To explain briefly, Eudaimonia means achieving the best conditions possible for a
human being, in every sense–not only happiness, but also virtue, morality, and a meaningful
life. Aristotle further explained eudaimonia as “active behavior that exhibits excellence and
virtue in accordance with reason and contemplation” (Huta, 2013, p. 203) and “...the active
exercise of the mind in conformity with perfect goodness or virtue” (Dimmock and Fisher,
2017, p. 51). Thus, it is a state that is not a consequence of our physical or animalistic
tendencies, but rather a result of our distinctly human rational and cognitive aspects (ibid, p.
51). Because we have already laid out the concept of eudaimonia, let us advance on its
application using Aristotle’s Golden Mean. Aristotle defined virtue as a mean between two
extremes which are either excess or deficiency. He then explained moral virtue as “a

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disposition to choose by a rule... which a practically wise man would determine” to be the
mean between the two extremes. For Aristotle, practical wisdom is the ability to determine the
right thing to do in any circumstance (Thiroux and Krasemann, 2018, pp. 62-63).

By doing the right thing, we do not feed off our hedonistic qualities, but we do it
because it is right. As what Layman presented in reason two, “We cannot get people to do
their moral duty by appealing to their self-interest, since if they do the right thing for merely
self-interested reasons, they are not acting morally at all.” Imagine if superheroes can be hired,
then they would only be motivated to fight crime because of money and not their sense of
justice or virtues. A scenario like that is disturbing when you think about it because there
would be a very fine line separating superheroes and hitmen. Speaking of virtues, we should
also be cautious and make sure that we act according to them. According to Layman, “So,
while we should do what’s right because it is right, we need to be assured that in doing so, we
are not being irrational.” One of the most notable traits of superheroes is their courage which
in the direst circumstances, sometimes becomes excessive; thus, leads to rashness which is an
ingredient of bad decision-making. Let us take on Peter Parker’s case where he took advantage
of his abilities by entering a wrestling match with the motivation to win solely for self-interest.
The once lanky now powerful teenager was impulsive with his decisions and did not think of
the possible dangers of entering the match. He could have hurt himself or even his opponents,
considering that he was not yet entirely familiar with the limits of his newly-acquired powers.
If things got out of hand, it was possible that he could have killed someone. His enhanced
abilities gave him courage, but it led him to foolishness and naïvety. To add to that, his anger
towards the promoter who deceived him clouded his morals. In the end, his rashness led to his
uncle’s death. Finally, the reason that mostly adheres to eudaimonia is reason four: Virtue is
its own reward. Virtue is an evidence of our rationality, intellect and moral ascendancy. Doing
the right thing means flourishing and excellence and who does not want that? According to
Schueller (2013), eudaimonia is to live well and actualize one’s potential. With this kind of
approach, some of the consequences are favorable for the people even though it may not
produce pleasure. We incline on what is moral not to satisfy worldly desires, but the faculty of
reason. By following the conscience, we get our own benefit. Spider-Man himself might have
experienced some setbacks, but he still chose to do the greater good. In the end, he beats the
bad guys, gets the girl, earns the people’s hearts and he can freely swing from one building to
another. 

One thing notable about Layman’s article is how he constructed his reasons to be a
flurry of both truth-telling and truth-searching –Layman does not persuade you into agreeing
with his reasons. Rather, he plays the role of both the presenter and the devil’s advocate,
explaining fair and considerable points as to why some reasons just don’t make sense, all
mixed in one big pot of moral parallels boiled just enough to create a convincing concoction of
well-pieced arguments. 

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 Did this article pierce me enough to consider being a superhero? Probably not. But, did
it keep me up at night thinking “Why be a Superhero? Why be Moral?”? Absolutely.

CONCLUSION
Doing things for the sake of self-interest is definitely not included in the superhero
handbook. Why settle for that when you can do the right things for the sake of human
flourishing, happiness, peace of mind and a probable better life in your next reincarnation (if it
does exist)? As humans who have intellect and free will, our function is eudaimonia which we
can achieve by acting according to reason. If we follow the idea that the strongest reasons
support what is moral, then eudaimonia is a considerable answer to the question, “Why be
moral?” 

By equating our end to eudaimonia, Aristotle emphasized how happiness and

flourishing is our ultimate end. We obtain this happiness through learning which feeds our
soul. Both Plato and Aristotle considered the soul as a more perfect and higher form than the
body (Ignacio, 2020). In addition, Aristotle viewed intelligence as the best and most complete
excellence and that good reflective activity is in line with this best excellence undeniably
(Grech, 2007, p. 25). When we choose to do what is moral, we actualize the potentials of our
ability to reason; hence, we flourish. 

One can be moral without being a superhero. Again, we do not need enhanced abilities
because our own superpower is our reason and freedom to choose what is moral. Making
decisions is both a privilege and a responsibility we must uphold with the highest
consideration because of moral consequences that could affect not only us, but everyone
around us. Every time we make a choice, we should always ask ourselves if what we are
choosing is right, aligned to virtues, would have negative consequences, would give us peace
of mind, would benefit us in the long run or would help in achieving eudaimonia.

C. Stephen Layman’s article is a must-read not only because of its exciting and
insightful analysis on the moral questions surrounding Spider-Man, but also because it makes
us contemplate on the important things we often neglect or overlook. Layman’s work unlocks
different perspectives in the importance of living a moral life. It leads us to a realization that
the ultimate purpose of man is beyond the earthly pleasures of life, but to become a better
person and to fulfill our potential as human beings. Only then, man could achieve the state of
being, a fully achieved life - eudaimonia. 

REFERENCES:

Dimmock, M., & Fisher, A. (2017). Aristotelian Virtue Ethics. In Ethics for A-Level (pp. 49-63).
Cambridge, UK: Open Book. Retrieved April 21, 2020, from
www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1wc7r6j.7

Grech, G. J. (2010). Aristotle's eudaimonia and two conceptions of happiness (Unpublished

master’s thesis, University of St. Andrews, Scotland). Retrieved April 21, 2020 from
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/994

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Huta, V. (2013). Eudaimonia. In S. David, I. Boniwell, & A.C. Ayers (Eds.), Oxford Handbook
of Happiness (Chapter 15, pp. 201-213). Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press. Retrieved
April 22, 2020, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234860042_Eudaimonia

Ignacio, J. V. (2020). “Learning Module 01: Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics”. University of Santo
Tomas.

Schueller, S. (2013). Understanding our best: Eudaimonia's growing influence in psychology.

Quality of Life Research, 22(10), 2661-2662. Retrieved April 21, 2020, from
www.jstor.org/stable/24725606

Thiroux, J. P., & Krasemann, K. W. (2018). Ethics: Theory and Practice, Updated Edition (11th
ed.). Singapore: Pearson Education, Inc.

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