Inception and Philosophy

Thorsten Botz-Bornstein is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait. He is the author of numerous philosophy books, and he lives in Kuwait.

"The authors of Inception and Philosophy: Ideas to Die For will take you downwards and forwards. They'll plant seeds that grow in your mind. When you come out of it on the other side, you'll find that many things you think you believe never really made sense, and you'll wonder why you ever thought they did. Pick it up, start reading, wait for the kick." --D.E. Wittkower, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Old Dominion University "Inception is one of the most philosophically compelling movies to come out in the past twenty years or more. Reading Inception and Philosophy: Ideas to Die For is like waking from a dream. It could be just that." --Richard Greene, co-editor of Dexter and Philosophy "Not since The Matrix has there been a movie so philosophically rich as Christopher Nolan's Inception. If I had Dom Cobb's powers, I would plant just one simple idea--resilient, highly contagious--in the minds of bookstore browsers everywhere: Read Inception and Philosophy: Ideas to Die For." --Amy Kind, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College "Nothing can kick-start excited conversations on the gnarly nature of the mind quite like the movie Inception and a bunch of passionate philosophers." --Luke Dick, writer, artist, singer, philosophy professor

• CONTENTS Who's Putting Ideas in Your Head? Level 1 | Come Back to Reality, Please 1. How to Keep Track of Reality SYLVIA WENMACKERS 2. The Mad Neuroscience of Inception BERIT BROGAARD 3. Inception and Deception NATHAN ANDERSEN 4. Plugging in to the Experience Machine MICHAEL RENNETT Level 2 | We're Not in Your Dream 5. You Have No Idea JANET TESTERMAN 6. The Business of Inception DANIEL P. MALLOY 7. Mental Burglary MARCUS SCHULZKE 8. Right and Wrong in Dreams JOSEPH GARVIN Level 3 | The Infinite Staircase 9. Ariadne's Clue to Life, the Universe, and Everything THOMAS KAPPER 10. Once Upon a Time RANDALL E. AUXIER 11. The Story of Reality EMILIE DIONNE 12. Butterfly and Spinning Top HIU M. CHAN Level 4 | The Most Resilient Parasite 13. Dream Bigger, Darling JOSHUA RICHARDSON AND ORA MCWILLIAMS 14. Shared Dreams in Virtual Worlds MATTHEW BROPHY 15. The Movie as a Thinking Machine THORSTEN BOTZ-BORNSTEIN 16. Where Time Stands Still INDALECIO GARCIA Level 5 | Downwards Is the Only Way Forwards 17. Dreams, Mourning, and Desire NICOLAS FLOURY 18. The Undiscovered Country Called Experience JASON J. HOWARD 19. Inception's Faith in Everyday Life CHRISTOPHE D. RINGER 20. Building and Dwelling in Inception VALENTIN HUSSON 21. Dream Time RANDALL E. AUXIER Some of Our Totems (Bibliography) Just Projections of Someone's Subconscious (Author bios) Architectural Code (Index)