{"product_id":"science-fiction-and-philosophy-isbn-9781405149068","title":"Science Fiction and Philosophy","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA timely volume that uses science fiction as a springboard to meaningful philosophical discussions, especially at points of contact between science fiction and new scientific developments.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cul\u003e \u003cli\u003eRaises questions and examines timely themes concerning the nature of the mind, time travel, artificial intelligence, neural enhancement, free will, the nature of persons, transhumanism, virtual reality, and neuroethics\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eDraws on a broad range of books, films and television series, including \u003ci\u003eThe Matrix, Star Trek, Blade Runner, Frankenstein, Brave New World, The Time Machine,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBack to the Future\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e \u003cli\u003eConsiders the classic philosophical puzzles that appeal to the general reader, while also exploring new topics of interest to the more seasoned academic\u003c\/li\u003e \u003c\/ul\u003e  Sources and Acknowledgments  \u003cp\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThought Experiments: Science Fiction as a Window into Philosophical Puzzles (Susan Schneider).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart I: Could I be in a “Matrix” or Computer Simulation? Related Works: The Matrix; Permutation City; The 13th Floor; Vanilla Sky; Total Recall; Animatrix\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e1. Brain in a Vat (John Pollock).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e2. Are You In a Computer Simulation (Nick Bostrom).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e3. Excerpt from The Republic Plato\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e4. Excerpt from The Meditations on First Philosophy (René Descartes).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e5. The Matrix as Metaphysics (David J. Chalmers).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart II: What Am I? Free Will and the Nature of Persons Related Works: Software; Star Trek, The Next Generation: Second Chances; Mindscan; The Matrix; Minority Report\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e6. Where Am I (Daniel C. Dennett).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e7. Personal Identity (Eric Olson).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e8. Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons (Derek Parfit).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e9. Who Am I? What Am I (Ray Kurzweil).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e10. Free Will and Determinism in the World of Minority Report (Michael Huemer).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e11. Excerpt from “The Book of Life: A Thought Experiment” (Alvin I. Goldman).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart III: Mind: Natural, Artificial, Hybrid, and “Super” Related Works: 2001; Blade Runner; AI; Frankenstein; Terminator; I, Robot\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e12. Robot Dreams (Isaac Asimov).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e13. A Brain Speaks (Andy Clark).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e14. The Mind as the Software of the Brain (Ned Block).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e15. Cyborgs Unplugged (Andy Clark).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e16. Consciousness in Human and Robot Minds (Daniel C. Dennett).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e17. Superintelligence and Singularity (Ray Kurzweil).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart IV: Ethical and Political Issues Related Works: Brave New World; Gattaca; Terminator; White Plague\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e18. The Man on the Moon (George J. Annas).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e19. Mindscan: Transcending and Enhancing the Human (Brain Susan Schneider).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e20. The Doomsday Argument (John Leslie).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e21. Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics” and Machine Metaethics (Susan Leigh Anderson).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e22. Ethical Issues in Advanced Artificial Intelligence (Nick Bostrom).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePart V: Space and Time Related Works: Twelve Monkeys; Slaughterhouse Five; The Time Machine; Back to the Future; Flatland: A Romance in Many Dimensions\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e23. A Sound of Thunder (Ray Bradbury).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e24. Time (Theodore Sider).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e25. The Paradoxes of Time Travel (David Lewis).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e26. The Quantum Physics of Time Travel (David Deutsch and Michael Lockwood).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e27. Miracles and Wonders: Science Fiction as Epistemology (Richard Hanley).\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e“Despite its rather uneven balance between philosophy and literary criticism, the volume is a valuable pedagogical resource which will benefit tutors and students who are seeking to engage proactively with modern technology and its fictional representation.”  (\u003ci\u003eForum for Modern Language Studies\u003c\/i\u003e, 3 June 2012)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"If science fiction and philosophy give you pleasure, you may enjoy reading this book immensely. \" (Minds \u0026amp; Machines, 2010)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"Science Fiction and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e brings two areas together and into a dialogue: philosophy holds the fantasmatic enjoyment of science fiction to account for its illusions and awesome possibilities while science fiction reminds philosophy that all reason and no play makes thought a very dull thing indeed. Hopefully, this volume will find its way into the hands of those who wish to discover something about the highly technological world-view and horizon of meaning of our current epoch.\" (\u003ci\u003eDiscover Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e, November 2010)\"\u003ci\u003eScience Fiction and Philosophy: From Time Travel to Superintelligence\u003c\/i\u003e (Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 2009), Schneider mines time travel, artificial intelligence, robot rights, teleportation, and genetic modification to discuss the nature of space and time, free will, transhumanism, the self, neuroethics, and reality.\" (\u003ci\u003eDiscover\u003c\/i\u003e, December 2010)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“Looking over the pages one can see Schneider's attention to detail … .Schneider has obviously made her choices for their accessibility and we should applaud her for this … .The collection stands as an important and provocative dialogue between two very rich areas of contemporary cultures and societies. Science Fiction and Philosophy gives us a chance to redeem science fiction … and take the questions it poses seriously and with a critical gaze. This volume will be of interest to audiences read in science fiction, philosophy of science, philosophy of time, philosophy of mind, consciousness studies, epistemology, robot ethics and bio-ethics and biotechnology and general audiences alike.” (\u003ci\u003eMetapsychology\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e“I highly recommend Schneider's collection, whether for use as a reader in a course on philosophy and science fiction, or simply for those interested in engaging the issues raised in much science fiction at a higher degree of abstraction, in conversation not only with the works of fiction themselves but also the philosophers and physicists who tackle many of the same questions from other angles.” (\u003ci\u003eExploring Our Matrix\u003c\/i\u003e, June 2009)\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cb\u003eSusan Schneider\u003c\/b\u003e is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania, and a faculty member in Penn’s Neuroethics program, its Institute for Research in Cognitive Science, and its Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. She is also a fellow with the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. She is the author of numerous pieces in philosophy of mind, neuroethics, and metaphysics, and has co-edited \u003ci\u003eThe Blackwell Companion to Consciousness\u003c\/i\u003e (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007) with Max Velmans.  Science fiction is more than mere entertainment. Historian H. Bruce Franklin defines it as “the literature which, growing with science and technology, evaluates it and relates it meaningfully to the rest of human existence.” Indeed, science fiction is increasingly converging with science fact. From the nature of mind to the ethics of AI and neural enhancement, science fiction thought experiments fire the philosophical imagination, encouraging us to think outside of the box about classic philosophical problems and even to envision new ones. For in certain cases, future technologies invite their own distinctive philosophical puzzles.  \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eScience Fiction and Philosophy\u003c\/i\u003e explores timely philosophical issues such as the nature of persons and their minds, puzzles about virtual reality, transhumanism, whether time travel is possible, the nature of artificial intelligence, and topics in neuroethics. This thought-provoking volume is suitable for students and general readers and at the same time examines new and more advanced topics of interest to seasoned philosophers and scientists.\u003c\/p\u003e  \"I've always said that science fiction is a lousy name for this field; it's really philosophical fiction: phi-fi not sci-fi! This book proves that with its penetrating analysis of the genre's treatment of deep questions of reality, personhood, and ethics.\"\u003cbr\u003e -- \u003cb\u003eRobert J. Sawyer\u003c\/b\u003e, Hugo Award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eHominids\u003c\/i\u003e  \u003cp\u003e\"Easily the best and most up-to-date book of its kind.\"\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cb\u003eBarry Dainton\u003c\/b\u003e, University of Liverpool\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Wiley-Blackwell","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47989993832677,"sku":"NP9781405149068","price":100.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781405149068.jpg?v=1761786141","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/science-fiction-and-philosophy-isbn-9781405149068","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}