Deadpooooooool.
Deadpool.
Deadpool. The Merc with a Mouth.
The Regenerating Degenerate.
What can Marvel's rated-R superstar (and his complete disregard for the fourth wall)
teach us about Philosophy?
Is Deadpool the greatest philosopher ever?
Is that the dumbest question ever?
Let's find out.
Hey you fancy nerds, I'm Jay and this is "A Quick Take".
This video is based on the first chapter of the book Deadpool and Philosophy: My Common
Sense is Tingling by Dr. Grant.
Isn't that a great title?
To quote the book's opening directly:
The fact is, Deadpool brings us a (literally) obscene number of philosophical questions.
Now, There are many videos out there covering a wide array of these questions.
This one from Wisecrack is my favorite but… it's not like they need my help to get views.
But today we're going to concentrate on one very specific idea.
Is Deadpool a philosopher?
Minor movie spoilers ahead.
So with that in mind, it's time for maximum effort.
In short, Deadpool knows that he's fictional.
In the very least he's taken a very intuitive wild guess.
What this means is that Deadpool can examine his existence from the outside in a way that
you and I will simply never be able to do.
Sure, you and I can attempt to step back and examine our lives from the outside, and that
is what good philosophers do.
However, unlike Deadpool, we have trouble visualizing our place in the universe from
the outside without feeling disassociated or disconnected from the events of our lives.
This can feel like a mild but creepy déjà vu or even seem like a mental illness (think
about a stranger talking to himself in the 3rd person, for example).
The fact of the matter is that this sort of temporary disconnection from our own reality
is often the best tool that philosophers (and even sociologists) have to try learn about
the world and our place in it.
You can't make objective observations about yourself or your world until you at least
try to imagine that you have an objective viewpoint - even while knowing that an objective
viewpoint is something you will never truly have.
This is why being able to break the fourth wall makes Deadpool, potentially, such a great
philosopher.
To clarify, let's take a quick look at one example.
In the 2016 Deadpool movie, as Colossus drags Deadpool off to see Professor X, our deformed
avocado of an anti-hero has a question:
McAvoy or Stewart?
These timelines are confusing!
This line is a great example of what we're talking about here.
When Colossus or Negasonic Teenage Warhead go to see Professor X, they see a wise powerful
mutant leader who, coincidentally, went from being a dead ringer for James McAvoy to being
a Dead ringer for Sir Patrick Stewart as he got older… if those actors even exist in
that universe at all.
My point is that Deadpool is using resources from outside his fictional universe.
He knows that Professor X has been portrayed by two actors, he knows there are multiple
timelines within the Fox Cinematic X-Men Universe and that sort of information comes as a direct
result of his ability to break the fourth wall.
He put his own universe into context in a way that is simply unimaginable to the rest
of the inhabitants of that universe.
For the most part, philosophers do the same thing.
Some of them even go so far as to suppose that our world is fictional, or a computer
simulation or an idea in the mind of god herself.
To quote Dr. Grant directly:
They [philosophers] want to look at the world from the outside, or failing that, they want
to look at their own lives from the outside.
Wouldn't knowing the exact source of your own universe (and importing information from
it) be uniquely helpful in that endeavor?
Classical Greek philosopher Socrates once said something to the effect of:
An unexamined life is not worth living.
When Deadpool breaks the fourth wall, he's able to ask questions about his own life.
Many that few people in his own universe can ask.
He's also able to examine his own life in a way that is simply not available to philosophers
in this universe.
Furthermore, he's able to break the fourth wall within his own fourth wall break.In that
instance, he's not just examining his universe from the outside by stepping into ours.
He's also examining his own life and seeing that stepping outside his life is a characteristic
of his life.
Put simply, he can only break the fourth wall during a fourth wall break by being aware
breaking the fourth wall is a habit of his.
Frankly, it's an astonishing level of self-awareness - both within the fictional universe and within
our real universe (Well… our probably real universe).
By practicing this same act of stepping back and attempting to look at or lives objectively
from the outside, we too can live an examined life.
And that level of self-awareness would be helpful to any of us.
All things considered, Deadpool and Philosophy is a weird but wonderful book.
It's totally unlicensed and yet it contains interjections from Deadpool himself.
The whole thing is crass and rude and deep and thoughtful.
It's a paradox, much like Deadpool.
I love it.
We only covered the first few pages so, if you're interested, there's a link in the
description below.
Full disclosure, it's an affiliate link.
If you want more from this book or even just my thoughts on the rest of this chapter, please
let me know in the comments section below.
This video is totally fan-funded by our lovely patrons on Patreon.
If you can, please support the channel at Patreon.com/FancyTeeth.
Even one dollar a month can make a difference.
Until next time guys, be kind to each other.
I'm Jay Parks.
For more infomation >> Video: The sun is back but it will be chilly 5/11/18 - Duration: 2:44. 
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