Sci-Phi Science Fiction as Philosophy Course Guidebook

312 Pages·2018·27.869 MB·English

by  David Kyle Johnson

Topic Subtopic
Philosophy & Modern
Join an award-winning professor on a philosophical journey into the realm of
science fiction. Intellectual History Philosophy
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Professor David Kyle Johnson
—The Wall Street Journal
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David Kyle Johnson is a Professor of Philosophy at King’s
College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He received his
PhD in Philosophy from the University of Oklahoma and
is perhaps best known for integrating pop culture into his
classes, having taught courses on Star Trek and science
fiction, among other topics. Professor Johnson publishes
prolifically on the intersection of pop culture and philosophy.
Among the books he has edited on the topic is “Inception”
and Philosophy: Because It’s Never Just a Dream. He also
maintains two blogs for Psychology Today.
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David Kyle Johnson, PhD
Professor of Philosophy
King’s College
D
avid Kyle Johnson is a Professor
of Philosophy at King’s College in
Wilkes‑Barre, Pennsylvania. After
receiving his bachelor’s degree in Religion
and Philosophy at Southern Nazarene
University, he completed his master’s
and doctor of philosophy degrees at the
University of Oklahoma.
Professor Johnson regularly teaches classes on metaphysics, philosophy
of religion, philosophy of mind, and logic, as well as courses on critical
thinking and scientific reasoning. He is perhaps best known for integrating
pop culture into his classes, and he has taught courses on The Simpsons,
South Park, Star Trek, and science fiction.
Professor Johnson has published articles on Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star
Trek: The Next Generation, The Matrix, Battlestar Galactica, Contact,
Batman, South Park, Family Guy, The Office, The Hobbit, The Daily Show,
Christmas, Stephen Colbert, Johnny Cash, and Quentin Tarantino. He also
edited a book on the movie Inception (“Inception” and Philosophy: Because It’s
Never Just a Dream), which inspired an Authors at Google talk with more
than 750,000 views.
Sci-Phi: Science Fiction aS PhiloSoPhy i
Additionally, Professor Johnson has published papers on free will, the
rationality of theistic belief, the problem of natural evil, the multiverse and
the simulation hypothesis, the paradox of fiction, the existence of souls and
demons, miracles, and many related topics. His articles have appeared in
such journals as Religious Studies, Sophia, Philo, Philosophy and Literature,
Think, and Science, Religion and Culture. Professor Johnson’s writing has
also appeared in the books Atheism and the Christian Faith, Philosophical
Approaches to Demonology, Bad Arguments: 100 of the Most Important Fallacies
in Western Philosophy, and C. S. Lewis’s Christian Apologetics: Pro and Con.
Professor Johnson regularly teaches outside the classroom, both on and off
campus, and maintains two blogs for Psychology Today. At Oklahoma, he
won the coveted Kenneth R. Merrill Graduate Teaching Award. In 2011,
the American Philosophical Association’s Committee on Public Philosophy
gave him an award for his ability to make philosophy accessible to the
general public.
Professor Johnson’s other Great Courses are Exploring Metaphysics and The
Big Questions of Philosophy. ■
Acknowledgments
Dr. Johnson would like to extend a special thanks to his colleagues William
Irwin, Greg Basham, Joel Shuman, Robin Field, Tom Concannon, Cristofer
Scarboro, and Tom Mackaman for their valuable feedback on his lectures;
Thomas Oord for some valuable readings; and especially Mike Berry, who
helped inspire many of the 24 lectures over informative and interesting
lunch conversations. Dr. Johnson would also like to thank his content
supervisor Brandon Hopkins, Jessica Darago, and the whole crew at the
Great Courses; his student aide Britney Benkoski for her proofreading
and formatting skills; the students in his fall 2017 Science Fiction and
Philosophy courses, who provided valuable feedback on early drafts of the
lectures all semester; and Joe for the fez, Jamie for the scarf, Lance for the
“Mombassa” poker chip, Tony for the 3‑D chess set, and the 4th Doctor
(cosplayer) for the Jelly Babies.
ii PRoFeSSoR BioGRaPhy
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Professor Biography i
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
course Scope 1
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LECTURE GUIDES
1 Inception and the interpretation of art 4
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2 The Matrix and the Value of Knowledge 15
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3 the Matrix Sequels and human Free Will 26
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4 The Adjustment Bureau, the Force, and Fate 39
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5 Contact : Science versus Religion 49
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6 Arrival: aliens and Radical translation 61
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7 Interstellar: is time travel Possible? 74
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8 Doctor Who and time travel Paradoxes 85
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9 Star Trek: TNG and alternate Worlds 97
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10 Dark City, Dollhouse, and Personal identity 108
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11 Westworld and A.I. Artificial Intelligence 118
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12 Transcendence and the Dangers of ai 131
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sci-Phi: Science Fiction aS PhiloSoPhy iii
13 The Thirteenth Floor: are We Simulated? 144
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14 The Orville, orwell, and the “Black Mirror” 155
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
15 Star Wars: Good versus evil 165
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16 Firefly, Blake’s 7, and Political Rebellion 176
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17 Starship Troopers, Doctor Who, and Just War 187
. . . . . . . . . . . .
18 the Prime Directive and Postcolonialism 199
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
19 capitalism in Metropolis, elysium, and Panem 212
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
20 Snowpiercer and climate change 224
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
21 Soylent Green: overpopulation and euthanasia 238
. . . . . . . . . . . .
22 Gattaca and the ethics of Reproduction 250
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
23 The Handmaid’s Tale: Feminism and Religion 263
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
24 Kubrick’s 2001 and nietzsche’s Übermensch 276
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
Bibliography 287
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
image credits 304
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
iV taBle oF contentS
SCI-PHI:
SCIENCE FICTION AS PHILOSOPHY
A
lthough it’s often wrongly dismissed as juvenile escapism, science
fiction is a primary way—perhaps the primary way—that society
engages with our most important philosophical, political, religious,
ethical, practical, societal, scientific, and even metaphysical questions.
Indeed, sci‑fi authors not only ask such questions but also advocate for
specific answers.
This course will examine the philosophic questions that sci‑fi raises, some
of the answers to these questions that the creators of sci‑fi give, and evaluate
them with the help of history’s most important philosophic thinkers.
The course begins with a discussion of Inception and the approach to
interpreting works of art used in the course. This will lead to a discussion
of The Matrix, René Descartes’s skeptical problem, Jean Baudrillard’s
Simulacra and Simulation, Robert Nozick’s experience machine, and the
value of knowledge. The Matrix sequels, along with Nelson Pike and the
consequent argument, will then have us doubting the existence of human
free will, and The Adjustment Bureau will have us wondering whether our
entire life is fated. Could our destinies be controlled by God (as John Calvin
suggests), secret societies (as conspiracy theorists suggest), or even something
like the Force from Star Wars?
Sci-Phi: Science Fiction aS PhiloSoPhy 1
Carl Sagan’s Contact will then have us asking questions about the
compatibility of science and religion, as well as Stephen Jay Gould’s NOMA
thesis, and in turn will have us considering questions about what effect an
alien visitation would have on society. How would it affect religious belief?
Would aliens help us or harm us? Would communication be possible? Arrival
will raise Willard Van Orman Quine’s problem of radical translation, and
we will explore the linguistic philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein to try
to solve it. Next, the Sapir‑Whorf hypothesis will have us considering the
possibility that the language we speak affects the way we see the world—for
example, how we see time.
This will lead to a discussion of the possibility of time travel. Quantum
Leap will raise questions about whether quantum mechanics allows for
backward causation, and Christopher Nolan’s film Interstellar will teach us
how relativity entails that time travel into the future is possible. Back to the
Future will seem to entail that time travel to the past invokes paradoxes, but
through Futurama and Doctor Who, we’ll discover ways to conceive of time
travel that avoids them—such as Nuel Belnap’s conception of branching
time travel and what might be called Lewisian predestination.
The science and science fiction that suggests there are alternate universes is
next: Star Trek, Fringe, and Sliders—along with Albert Einstein’s relativity,
Paul Steinhardt’s string theory, Alexander Vilenkin’s theory of inflation, Lee
Smolin’s black hole theory, and Hugh Everett III’s multiverse interpretation
of quantum mechanics. The possibility of alternative selves will raise
questions about personal identity, and Dark City, Moon, and Dollhouse
will be used to discuss John Stuart Mill’s memory criterion, Derek Parfit’s
psychological continuity criterion, Peter Unger’s bodily continuity criterion,
and David Lewis’s perdurantism.
HBO’s Westworld and Steven Spielberg’s A.I.: Artificial Intelligence will
be used to discuss the possibility of artificial intelligence. Julian Jaynes’s
theory of bicameralism, Giulio Tononi’s integrated information theory,
and Alan Turing’s imitation game will all be discussed. The course will
then examine the predictions of Ray Kurzweil to determine how soon AI
will be a reality, discuss Skynet and Transcendence to determine whether AI
would be dangerous or beneficial, and use Data from Star Trek to determine
whether we might be a danger to AI.
2 coURSe ScoPe
The Thirteenth Floor will raise Nick Bostrom’s argument about the genuine
possibility that we are living in a computer simulation, and Black Mirror
will raise concerns about the virtual world we already live in through social
media, such as how it subjects us to Jean‑Paul Sartre’s “look.” Star Wars will
motivate an exploration of whether there is a difference between good and
evil and a discussion of political rebellion. Then, the course will turn to
analyzing the social contract theories of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke
as well as Isaiah Berlin’s conceptions of freedom through the television
shows Firefly and Blake’s 7.
Starship Troopers, Doctor Who, and Ender’s Game will then raise questions
about the possibly of justified war and in turn whether Star Trek’s Prime
Directive adequately guards against colonialism. Colonialism will raise
the issue of capitalism, and the theories of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John
Maynard Keynes, and John Rawls will be used to evaluate the capitalistic
societies of Metropolis, Elysium, and Panem.
Snowpiercer will motivate a discussion of climate change, which will
motivate a discussion of Soylent Green, which will motivate a discussion of
overpopulation and euthanasia. The topic of population control will raise
questions about reproductive ethics, and Gattaca and Orphan Black will be
used to ponder abortion, designer babies, and cloning.
The course will end by considering whether The Handmaid’s Tale is
a feminist tale and then whether Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey
aligns with Friedrich Nietzsche’s idea of the Übermensch.
Sci-Phi: Science Fiction aS PhiloSoPhy 3
INCEPTION AND THE
INTERPRETATION
OF ART
lectURe 1
this course can be a unique experience through the
world of science fiction—especially sci-fi you don’t already
know—if you wish it to be. this is because at the end
of each lecture, to prepare for the next, it is suggested
that you watch a particular piece of science fiction and
consider certain questions in light of it.
the movie will always be explained anyway, in case you
didn’t watch it. But having the media fresh on your
mind will make the lecture take on an entirely different
dynamic—and also ensure that the story isn’t spoiled for
you if the ending is revealed.
So, if you’ve been meaning to see Inception but haven’t—
or it’s been a while—stop and do so right now. as you
do, ask yourself whether you really, honestly, think you
know what happens in the end. then come back to read
about it.
4 lectURe 1 t INCepTION anD the inteRPRetation oF aRt