Who Should Superman Save? | Philosophy Tube ft. NerdSync

1. 

   @jeremy625ful

   January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

   That time he got rid of all the nukes but we don’t talk about Superman 4

2. 

   @cicadadadays

   January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

   "Superman Smashes the Klan" would be a great addition to this discussion

3. 

   @ryanewald9740

   January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

   Hey, has anyone else notice that superman rarely shows up between 9am and 5pm?

4. 

   @Ubermensch9240

   January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

   We didn't invite Angry Joe and Linkara? Shame.

5. 

   @BearTheGrudge

   January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

   You save the child in the river. 10 feet down the river there is another child drowning so you save them. 10 feet later etc. it is always according to Singer our positive duty to save each child but at some point you are no longer even a person but a child saving machine. Nobody can maintain this blatant ignorance of their own will forever so does he address that?

6. 

   @jordanlink7020

   January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

   My 2010s brain: I love both of these men, great male role models all around, I sure am glad to have men like this on the internet

7. 

   @Airoehead

   January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

   revisiting this video 7 years later to answer the question "why's he have his job?" with, well, his job is investigative journalism! that contributes to society in a way his powers can't, his powers are just the bonus to help him achieve that! the "truth" part of "fighting for truth and justice"

   one of the first episodes of the animated series is him using his job as a reporter to track down Lexcorp's confidential arms dealing, and using his powers to stop them afterwards, then writing about it on the Bugle

8. 

   @dawnmoore9122

   January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

   I thought this would be discussing which people Superman should save, if he couldn't save everyone, but was still very entertained!

9. 

   @kamikage9420

   January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

   I love the idea of Spiderman getting a Patreon.

10. 

    @milascave2

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    Superman'Powers became so great over the decades that it became a problem to come up with any real conflict with him. He went from being a person with some extra abilities to being a God. That is why they had green Kryptonite, which makes him helpless when physically ill. And him losing his powers when he is in a solar system with a red sun, or when he is close to red Kryptonite.
    The romantic triangle of Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Superman is a fairly standard one. Clark Kent is in love with Louise Lane, but she rejects him. She is in love with Superman, who seems to be uninterested. The one thing that makes this one different is that Clark Kent is actually the same person as superman. Superman does not want to put Lois Lane at risk by having a relationship with as himself, so he tries to be a wingman (so to speak) for his alter ego Clark Kent, hoping that she will fall in love with him instead. But because he plays Clark as the opposite of him, mild-mannered and timid, she doesn't.
    The whole thing does not make a lot of sense. How could Clark have a relationship with Lois without her finding out? Furthermore, how could they have sex with her when his body is immune to the most extreme sensations of heat and cold possible. If he tried, he would feel nothing, but might tear her apart trying too.
    Some of the later movies dealt with those themes. But meanwhile, the triangle provided a lot of fodder for conflicts and plot twits. That is why it was created, I suppose.

11. 

    @blakejaeger154

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    I think Superman’s level of marginal utility would be limited by the mental health cost of not living a normal human life. He’s already considered basically a god by enough people, and that hurts him. It isolates him. Can you imagine the loneliness of being, for all intents and purposes, a god? Seeing these people who only seem to strive to hurt each other? It’s not just a matter of it grounding him, as stated in the video. Being Superman all the time would make him less effective, and affect his desire to save people. Sure, he’d still be Superman and have all his abilities, so from a purely physical standpoint he’d still be fully able, but the mental aspect is extremely important here.

12. 

    @voxtemporis4503

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    Like many kids of my time I put on a homemade cape and jumped a small distance on to a soft yard. I, for one, had no idea of the serious questions involved.

13. 

    @anitanielsen1061

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    XD Now I need a fic/comic where Spidey gets a Patron XD

14. 

    @yourfutureself3392

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    Very interesting

15. 

    @Pongus_420

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    "He can't listen all the time, he's not God! He can't be aware of every bird or blade of grass, okay, he's a man. And sometimes he needs to not listen! He needs to rest, to love, to laugh." -Smallville

16. 

    @darlalathan6143

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    Good point! Clark Kent's persona is best suited for Superman's morale and empathy with humans. He might need vacations and eventual retirement from superhero life for his mental health, to prevent job burnout. Sunbathing on a beach would nicely recharge a solar-powered man. Even if he were Superman 24/7, any human would have only a 1-10% chance of being rescued by him. However, he could fly back in time, like the Silver Age and Donner versions.

17. 

    @michellejean11

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    Is Singer's argument realistic? Hero's that push themselves to the limit sometimes are awarded honors posthumously or burn themselves out. Who decides what is enough, it will vary from person to person, morals not being universal. Singer like Kant seems to expect better of humanity then is often the case. If society could live up to Singer's expectations the world would be a better place for all.

18. 

    @babyborn87

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    Død over Pat.

19. 

    @hughwhite3273

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    Great video! Enjoying going back through some of your older content! I had a thought along the lines of what some have mentioned below. It's not necessarily the case that its a dichotomy between doing good things as Superman, and not doing them as Clarke Kent. I'd think Clark Kent spends at least some of the time as Clarke Kent helping people or doing other morally good things. Then, someone might respond, "well that's still bad because they could do more good if they spent more time as Superman". This is a argument similar to one I've heard against giving money to the homeless "that's bad, you could have given the money to a homeless charity and done more good". Leaving That discussion alone, that raises the question; is it morally bad to do something that (taken in isolation) is morally good, if it means that you don't do another morally good thing (that may have better consequences)?

20. 

    @daniellevy2272

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    THAT IS THE ONLY MORAL COMIC BOOK QUESTION I CAN'T ANSWER. I'LL COME BACK WHEN I GET THE ANSWER, IT'S THERE. THE HUMAN HEART CAN BE GOOD, AND SO CAN SUPERMAN. I KNOW IT

21. 

    @bfastje

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    I've thought about this a lot.

22. 

    @kimpalonen1978

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    I'm on team "humanity should do more for humanity" because some human communities have caused the scarcity and suffering of other communities for arbitrary reasons humanity is unwilling to discuss in a transparent manner.

23. 

    @animefurry3508

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    What is Goku's Moral Philosophy?

24. 

    @anselmenator

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    Crowdfunded Spiderman reminds me of the crowdfunded D & D warlock idea, where various supernatural entities pay for the warlock to kill various things.

25. 

    @robot7759

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    Because… comics.

26. 

    @OUTSIDER40

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    Interesting 🤔

27. 

    @richardthemagician8991

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    I believe prisoners should be allowed to vote. The punishment of imprisonment removes people from society for various reasons, the major reason being a danger to society. But this punishment does NOT do is revoke one's citizenship. And if you are a citizen, you have a right to vote. Think of it this way: most people who go to prison will eventually rejoin society. They should have a say in the society they are going to rejoin. An argument can be made for prisoners serving a life sentence to have their voting rights taken away. But I disagree with that as well.

28. 

    @manat31790

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    In Superman/Batman, Silver Banshee switches the two heroes' powers. Batman gets overexcited with Supes' power and decides to do crime-fighting 24/7. He goes insane as a result.

    There are two reasons Clark Kent persona becomes more and more prominent in modern comics. Firstly, Clark is his dominant identity as he actually has his own life outside being a superhero. Double identity is a crucial aspect of superhero philosophy as it deals with the duality between fantasy and reality. Superman is no different from Spider-Man when it comes to a need to balance his awesome superhero life and his down-to-earth responsibility to take normal jobs and contribute to society, all while providing for himself, his friends, and his family.

    Secondly, 'normal people' aren't supposed to rely on Superman all the time. Superman makes it very clear that he is fighting primarily to inspire and give people hope. The guy believes in humanity's potential and how the people can get their crap together without complete Kryptonian intervention. This is supplemented by the fact superheroes aren't real, and the world inside the comic evolves in parallel with real life. It's one thing to cling onto heroic figures or deities to get by everyday life, but it's another thing to treat them like public slaves who have to serve the people because they don't want to do things by themselves.

29. 

    @owlyus

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    In my headcannon, someone shared this video with Zack Snyder and then BvS happened

30. 

    @silentrevolver4600

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    Prisoners don’t break social contract, they are in prison, which means that they are complying to a clause of the social contract. Those who skip bail are breaking social contract.

31. 

    @timothymclean

    January 2, 2026 at 6:51 pm

    The question of whether Clark Kent is justifiable comes down to whether or not Superman could be effective in the long term if he wasn't grounded. It's impossible to know for sure—I imagine that question has been explored in at least three storylines which came to at least five conclusions between them. But there's another character I can think of who provides a possible example of what Superman could be without Clark Kent—Scion, from Worm.
    Without spoiling too much: Scion has all of Superman's powers and then some, but he felt unfulfilled. One day, he started going around saving people basically because he was told it would be a good thing, and he did that 24/7 for decades. Going further would be big spoilers, but suffice to say that Scion probably would have been more helpful during the story's climax if he had been more grounded in humanity.
    Self-care is important, even if you're a superhuman alien. (So is caring about your fellow humans, of course.)

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