Science Fiction and Philosophy

Susan Schneider is a Philosophy Professor at the University of Connecticut and a Fellow with the American Council of Learned Societies. She is the author of The Language of Thought: a New Philosophical Direction (2011) and the co-author, with Max Velmans, of The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness (2006).

"Schneider's anthology, as it stands, is a great introduction to many of the fundamental theoretical issues raised by SF. Each topic is covered with a panel of accessible texts. One will also appreciate the presence of several short stories and references to related works of SF in every section of the book." (Metapsychology online reviews 2016)

• IntroductionThought Experiments: Science Fiction as a Window into Philosophical Puzzles 1Susan SchneiderPart I Could I Be in a “Matrix” or Computer Simulation?Related Works:The Matrix; Avatar; Ender’s Game; The Hunger Games; Simulacron‐3; Ubik; Tron; Permutation City; Vanilla Sky; Total Recall 171 Reinstalling Eden: Happiness on a Hard Drive 19Eric Schwitzgebel and R. Scott Bakker2 Are You in a Computer Simulation? 22Nick Bostrom3 Plato’s Cave. Excerpt from The Republic 26Plato4 Some Cartesian thought Experiments. Excerpt from The Meditations on First Philosophy 30René Descartes5 The Matrix as Metaphysics 35David J. ChalmersPart II What Am I? Free Will and the Nature of PersonsRelated Works:Moon; Software; Star Trek, The Next Generation: Second Chances; Mindscan; The Matrix; Diaspora; Blindsight; Permutation City; Kiln People; The Gods Themselves; Jerry Was a Man; Nine Lives; Minority Report 556 Where Am I? 57Daniel C. Dennett7 Personal Identity 69Eric Olson8 Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons 91Derek Parfit9 Who Am I? What Am I? 99Ray Kurzweil10 Free Will and Determinism in the World of Minority Report 104Michael Huemer11 Excerpt from “The Book of Life: A Thought Experiment” 114Alvin I. GoldmanPart III Mind: Natural, Artificial, Hybrid, and SuperintelligentRelated Works:Transcendence; 2001: A Space Odyssey; Humans; Blade Runner; AI; Frankenstein; Accelerando; Terminator; I, Robot; Neuromancer; Last and First Men; His Master’s Voice; The Fire Upon the Deep; Solaris; Stories of your Life 11712 Robot Dreams 119Isaac Asimov13 A Brain Speaks 125Andy Clark14 Cyborgs Unplugged 130Andy Clark15 Superintelligence and Singularity 146Ray Kurzweil16 The Singularity: A Philosophical Analysis 171David J. Chalmers17 Alien Minds 225Susan SchneiderPart IV Ethical and Political IssuesRelated Works:Brave New World; Ender’s Game; Johnny Mnemonic; Gattaca; I, Robot; Terminator; 2001: A Space Odyssey; Mindscan; Autofac; Neuromancer; Planet of the Apes; Children of Men; Nineteen Eighty‐Four; Player Piano; For a Breath I Tarry; Diamond Age 24318 The Man on the Moon 245George J. Annas19 Mindscan: Transcending and Enhancing the Human Brain 260Susan Schneider20 The Doomsday Argument 277John Leslie21 The Last Question 279Isaac Asimov22 Asimov’s “Three Laws of Robotics” and Machine Metaethics 290Susan Leigh Anderson23 The Control Problem. Excerpts from Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies 308Nick BostromPart V Space and TimeRelated Works:Interstellar; Twelve Monkeys; Slaughterhouse‐Five; All You Zombies; The Time Machine; Back to the Future; Flatland: A Romance in Many Dimensions; Anathem 33124 A Sound of Thunder 333Ray Bradbury25 Time 343Theodore Sider26 The Paradoxes of Time Travel 357David Lewis27 The Quantum Physics of Time Travel 370David Deutsch and Michael Lockwood28 Miracles and Wonders: Science Fiction as Epistemology 384Richard HanleyAppendix: Philosophers Recommend Science Fiction 393Eric SchwitzgebelIndex 410