Description
Book SynopsisSometimes called the literature of ideas, science fiction is a natural medium for normative political philosophy. Science fiction's focus on technology, space and time travel, non-human lifeforms, and parallel universes cannot help but invoke the perennial questions of political life, including the nature of a just social order and who should rule; freedom, free will, and autonomy; and the advantages and disadvantages of progress. Rather than offering a reading of a work inspired by a particular thinker or tradition, each chapter presents a careful reading of a classic or contemporary work in the genre (a novel, short story, film, or television series) to illustrate and explore the themes and concepts of political philosophy.
Trade Review“Given that nothing is poised to help us explore the pressing political and philosophical issues of our day like science fiction, Science Fiction and Political Philosophy is a much-needed book. It covers nearly everything you want it to cover—dating back to the origins of science fiction (like Bacon’s New Atlantis and Shelly’s Frankenstein) to modern fan favorites of film and television (like Star Trek TNG and Black Mirror)—and treats science fiction with the philosophical respect it deserves. I hope and believe it will inspire similar works.” -- David Kyle Johnson, King’s College, author of Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy
Science Fiction and Political Philosophy is highly recommended reading for those interesting in science fiction, philosophy, and just over all assessing the questions and problems we as a human race, could or will face at some point, as these are serious matters to which we as a species must consider.
* VoegelinView *
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Fiction and the Science of Self-Reflection: Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis and the Idols of the Mind
Chapter 2: Utopianism and Realism in Shakespeare’s The Tempest
Chapter 3: Frankenstein and the Ugliness of Enlightenment,
Chapter 4: Technology and Anxiety in Melville’s Lightning-Rod Man
Chapter 5: The Head, the Hands, and the Heart: Political Rationalism in Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
Chapter 6: Technology and Human Nature in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World
Chapter 7: An Exhortation to Secure Humanity against the Buggers: Ender’s Game
Chapter 8: Seeing and Being Seen in the Kingdom of Ends: On Immanuel Kant, Adam Smith, and Star Trek: The Next Generation
Chapter 9: Knowledge of Death in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go
Chapter 10: Founding a Posthuman Political Order in M. R. Carey's The Girl with All the Gifts
Chapter 11: Bacon, Transhumanism, and Reflections from the Black Mirror
