Philosophy through Science Fiction Stories PDF Download

Author: Helen De Cruz
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 135008123X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Bringing together short stories by award-winning contemporary science fiction authors and philosophers, this book covers a wide range of philosophical ideas from ethics, philosophy of religion, political philosophy, and metaphysics. Alongside the introductory pieces by the editors that help readers to understand how philosophy can be done through science fiction, you will find end-of-story notes written by the authors that contextualize their stories within broader philosophical themes. Organised thematically, these stories address fundamental philosophical questions such as: *What does it mean to be human? *Is neural enhancement a good thing? *What makes a life worthwhile? *What political systems are best? By making complex ideas easily accessible, this unique book allows you to engage with philosophical ideas in entertaining new ways, and is an ideal entry point for anyone interested in using fiction to better understand philosophy.

Author: Susan Schneider
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118922611
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 439

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Book Description
Featuring numerous updates and enhancements, Science Fiction and Philosophy, 2nd Edition, presents a collection of readings that utilize concepts developed from science fiction to explore a variety of classic and contemporary philosophical issues. Uses science fiction to address a series of classic and contemporary philosophical issues, including many raised by recent scientific developments Explores questions relating to transhumanism, brain enhancement, time travel, the nature of the self, and the ethics of artificial intelligence Features numerous updates to the popular and highly acclaimed first edition, including new chapters addressing the cutting-edge topic of the technological singularity Draws on a broad range of science fiction’s more familiar novels, films, and TV series, including I, Robot, The Hunger Games, The Matrix, Star Trek, Blade Runner, and Brave New World Provides a gateway into classic philosophical puzzles and topics informed by the latest technology

Author: Ryan Nichols
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780415957557
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 433

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Book Description
Philosophy Through Science Fiction offers a fun, challenging, and accessible way in to the issues of philosophy through the genre of science fiction. Tackling problems such as the possibility of time travel, or what makes someone the same person over time, the authors take a four-pronged approach to each issue, providing - a clear and concise introduction to each subject - a science fiction story that exemplifies a feature of the philosophical discussion - historical and contemporary philosophical texts that investigate the issue with rigor, and - glossary, plot profiles of pertinent science fiction stories and films, and questions for further reflection. Philosophy Through Science Fiction includes stories from contemporary science fiction writers including Greg Egan and Mike Resnick, as well as from classic authors like Philip K. Dick and Robert Heinlein. Philosophy readings include historical pieces by René Descartes and David Hume, and contemporary pieces by John Searle and Mary Midgley.

Author: Michael Philips
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
This accessible and provocative collection of science fiction acquaints readers with cutting-edge gender controversies in moral and political philosophy. By imagining future worlds that defy our most basic assumptions about sex and gender, freedom and equality, and ethical values, the anthology’s authors not only challenge traditional standards of morality and justice, but create bold experiments for testing feminist hypotheses. Selections are grouped under four main themes. Part 1, "Human Nature and Reality," concentrates on whether there is an intrinsic difference between males and females. Here the authors inspect opposing views on five related questions: What does it mean to be human? What are women and men really like? How significant is the reproductive difference? How do we define the concepts of "woman" and "nature"? Why is language important? Part 2, "Dystopias: The Worst of All Possible Worlds," first portrays misogynistic societies uncomfortably familiar to the early 21st-century reader. Chilling stories of future possibilities follow, including worlds where women and men separate into armies to fight a literal war of the sexes. Part 3, "Separatist Utopias: Worlds of Difference," assembles stories that scrutinize both the virtues and vices of separatism, in order to address the questions Why should women want to separate from men? and What would and should these all-female worlds be like? In Part 4, "Androgynous Utopias: Worlds of Equality," the authors create intriguing worlds that anticipate the consequences, good and bad, of perfect sexual equality in education, intelligence, capability, and reproduction. With selections from such noted writers as Octavia Butler, Marion Zimmer Bradley, James Tiptree Jr., and many others, plus chapter introductions, discussion questions, and recommended reading list, this stimulating collection offers fresh insights on troubling issues by weaving controversial utopian and dystopian designs from the separate threads of opposing positions.

Author: Burton F. Porter
Publisher: Prentice Hall
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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Book Description
For Introduction to Philosophy courses or for courses in Humanities and Philosophy in/and/of Literature. Philosophy Through Fiction and Film offers a fresh approach to philosophy using literary and film narratives along with standard philosophic works to introduce students to the basic branches of the field. The fiction and film enliven the philosophic issues, tapping into today's cultural experience, and the philosophic works ground the issues, showing their deeper significance. At the same time, the fundamental issues of philosophy are covered to provide a complete introduction to the field.

Author: Amy Karofsky
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135038597
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
Many of the classic questions of philosophy have been raised, illuminated, and addressed in celluloid. In this Third Edition of Philosophy through Film, Mary M. Litch teams up with a new co-author, Amy Karofsky, to show readers how to watch films with a sharp eye for their philosophical content. Together, the authors help students become familiar with key topics in all of the major areas in Western philosophy and master the techniques of philosophical argumentation. The perfect size and scope for a first course in philosophy, the book assumes no prior knowledge of philosophy. It is an excellent teaching resource and learning tool, introducing students to key topics and figures in philosophy through thematic chapters, each of which is linked to one or more "focus films" that illustrate a philosophical problem or topic. Revised and expanded, the Third Edition features: A completely revised chapter on "Relativism," now re-titled "Truth" with coverage of the correspondence theory, the pragmatist theory, and the coherence theory. The addition of four new focus films: Inception, Moon, Gone Baby Gone, God on Trial. Revisions to the General Introduction that include a discussion of critical reasoning. Revisions to the primary readings to better meet the needs of instructors and students, including the addition of three new primary readings: excerpts from Bertrand Russell’s The Problems of Philosophy, from William James’ Pragmatism: A New Way for Some Old Ways of Thinking, and from J. L. Mackie’s "Evil and Omnipotence". Updates and expansion to the companion website, including a much expanded list of films relevant to the various subfields of philosophy. Films examined in depth include: Hilary and Jackie The Matrix Inception Memento Moon I, Robot Minority Report Crimes and Misdemeanors Gone Baby Gone Antz Equilibrium The Seventh Seal God on Trial Leaving Las Vegas

Author: Damien Broderick
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3030005992
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Science fiction explores the wonderful, baffling and wildly entertaining aspects of a universe unimaginably old and vast, and with a future even more immense. It reaches into that endless cosmos with the tools of rational investigation and storytelling. At the core of both science and science fiction is the engaged human mind--a consciousness that sees and feels and thinks and loves. But what is this mind, this aware and self-aware consciousness that seems unlike anything else we experience? What makes consciousness the Hard Problem of philosophy, still unsolved after millennia of probing? This book looks into the heart of this mystery - at the science and philosophy of consciousness and at many inspiring fictional examples - and finds strange, challenging answers. The book's content and entertaining style will appeal equally to science fiction enthusiasts and scholars, including cognitive and neuroscientists, as well as philosophers of mind. It is a refreshing romp through the science and science fiction of consciousness.

Author: Paul J. Nahin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1493906186
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
Can a computer have a soul? Are religion and science mutually exclusive? Is there really such a thing as free will? If you could time travel to visit Jesus, would you (and should you)? For hundreds of years, philosophers, scientists and science fiction writers have pondered these questions and many more. In Holy Sci-Fi!, popular writer Paul Nahin explores the fertile and sometimes uneasy relationship between science fiction and religion. With a scope spanning the history of religion, philosophy and literature, Nahin follows religious themes in science fiction from Feynman to Foucault and from Asimov to Aristotle. An intriguing journey through popular and well-loved books and stories, Holy Sci-Fi! shows how sci-fi has informed humanity's attitudes towards our faiths, our future and ourselves.

Author: Gary Westfahl
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786484764
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
Science fiction has always challenged readers with depictions of the future. Can the genre actually provide glimpses of the world of tomorrow? This collection of fifteen international and interdisciplinary essays examines the genre's predictions and breaks new ground by considering the prophetic functions of science fiction films as well as SF literature. Among the texts and topics examined are classic stories by Murray Leinster, C. L. Moore, and Cordwainer Smith; 2001: A Space Odyssey and its sequels, Japanese anime and Hong Kong cinema; and electronic fiction.

Author: S. M. Stirling
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101043911
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
S. M. Stirling presents his first Novel of the Change, the start of the New York Times bestselling postapocalyptic saga set in a world where all technology has been rendered useless. The Change occurred when an electrical storm centered over the island of Nantucket produced a blinding white flash that rendered all electronic devices and fuels inoperable—and plunged the world into a dark age humanity was unprepared to face... Michael Pound was flying over Idaho en route to the holiday home of his passengers when the plane’s engines inexplicably died, forcing a less than perfect landing in the wilderness. And as Michael leads his charges to safety, he begins to realize that the engine failure was not an isolated incident. Juniper McKenzie was singing and playing guitar in a pub when her small Oregon town was thrust into darkness. Now, taking refuge in her family’s cabin with her daughter and a growing circle of friends, Juniper is determined to create a farming community to benefit the survivors of this crisis. But even as people band together to help one another, others are building armies for conquest...