In 1990, cartoonist Bill Watterson gave an insightful, philosophy-laden address to graduates at Kenyon College. He insisted that despite the pressures of social convention, we are allowed to create our own purpose, and that by reading and studying, we gain the “Swiss Army knife of mental tools” to ask truthful and meaningful questions about life. That Watterson gave such a profound speech came as no surprise to fans of his comic strip, “Calvin and Hobbes.” The comic follows the adventures of 6-year-old Calvin and his stuffed tiger, Hobbes, whom everyone apart from Calvin sees as an inanimate toy. It often addresses philosophical questions while commenting on the nature of art, academia, and reality. His two central characters are, after all, named after the 16th-century theologian John Calvin and the 17th-century philosopher Thomas Hobbes.
