Mark D. White

Writer, editor, teacher

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about

I’m a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the College of Staten Island/CUNY, where I teach courses in philosophy, economics, and law, and the author/editor/co-editor of several books.

Category: Will

  • Green Lantern Annual #1: Of Free Will, Tolkien, and the Wonder Twins

    All in all, Green Lantern Annual #1, written by Geoff Johns and pencilled by Ethan Van Sciver and Pete Woods, is one of the most exciting books to come out of the DC New 52 so far. Faint praise, perhaps, but this felt like the build-up to Johns' previous GL events like "Sinestro Corps War"…

  • What do chocolate and radishes have to do with Green Lantern?

    At The Atlantic today, Hans Villarica interviews Dr. Roy Baumeister, one of the psychologists chiefly responsible for the ego-depletion or "muscle" theory of willpower. Under this conception, people have a limited amount of willpower at any given time; as they use it, it is depleted in the short term but strengthened in the long term (just like a muscle…

  • Reaffirming willpower in Detective Comics #874

    Scott Snyder and Francesco Francavilla offer up another fantastic issue of Detective Comics with today's issue 874, continuing the re-introduction of James Gordon Jr. in a tantalizing discussion with his father, while also exploring the aftermath of Dick's exposure to the Dealer's hallucinogenic gas in the previous story arc. There are many intriguing elements to…

  • Bill Willingham: Turn me evil once, shame on you–turn me evil twice, shame on me!

    In a new interview on Newsarama, comics writer (and sometimes artist) Bill Willingham discusses many things, including Fables of course, but also why he left JSA after twelve issues (contained in the trades shown to the left, The Bad Seed and Axis of Evil). In particular, he cites issues with accommodating crossovers and editorial interference, which…