Читать книгу Black Panther and Philosophy - Группа авторов - Страница 17

Steve Bein and Deana Lewis

Suppose the epic battle at the end of the film Black Panther took a different turn. T’Challa still delivers the final blow to Killmonger, but after a life-saving surgery, Killmonger wakes up to find himself handcuffed to a hospital bed. He still gets to deliver that killer line about death being better than bondage, but T’Challa replies with a sad smile. “I know the legal system you grew up with is designed for retribution,” he says, “but Wakandan justice is more civilized. You’ll see.”

Does justice demand letting a mass murderer like Erik Killmonger bleed to death? If he doesn’t die, what does justice demand then? That depends not only on how you define justice but also on what kind of justice you’re trying to define. The question of what punishment Killmonger deserves is quite different from the question of how to repair the harm he’s done, which again is quite different from the question of how to right the wrongs done to him. Philosophers have dedicated countless pages to these kinds of questions, and they’ve outlined a whole taxonomy of different kinds of justice. In this chapter we’ll look at two of the classical conceptions of justice and then examine the contemporary movements that arose to challenge these old concepts. But first, let’s look at Wakanda’s record on justice.