Eric Bronson 
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy 
Everything Is Fire

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.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

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

Über den Autor

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.