Science Fiction and Philosophy

Introduction

Part I:. Could I be in a "Matrix" (A Computer Simulation)?

Part II: What am I? Free Will and the Nature of Persons

Part III: Mind, Natural Artificial, Hybrid and "Super"

Part IV: Ethical and Political Issues

Part V: Space and Time

Susan Schneider 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 The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007) with Max Velmans.

"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." (Metapsychology)

" Science Fiction and Philosophy brings two areas togetherand into a dialogue: philosophy holds the fantasmatic enjoyment ofscience fiction to account for its illusions and awesomepossibilities while science fiction reminds philosophy that allreason and no play makes thought a very dull thing indeed.Hopefully, this volume will find its way into the hands of thosewho wish to discover something about the highly technologicalworld-view and horizon of meaning of our current epoch."( Discover Magazine , November 2010)

" Science Fiction and Philosophy: From Time Travel toSuperintelligence (Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 2009), Schneidermines time travel, artificial intelligence, robot rights,teleportation, and genetic modification to discuss the nature ofspace and time, free will, transhumanism, the self, neuroethics,and reality." ( Discover , December 2010)

"Divided into five parts following themes arising from centralquestions in metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics, it intimatelyand intelligently ties works of art, which vividly bring to lifethe aforementioned thought experiments, together with exceptionallythought-provoking philosophical articles inspired and enlightenedby the storytelling. It is not, as some edited collections tend tobe, a disparate aggregate, but a successful marriage of art withanalytic philosophy. It supports not only Schneider s but an evenstronger argument: that a good science fiction story is very oftena philosophical argument in disguise. If science fiction andphilosophy give you pleasure, you may enjoy reading this hookimmensely." ( Mind & Machines , Fall 2010)

"Looking over the pages one can see Schneider s attentionto detail ... .Schneider has obviously made her choices fortheir accessibility and we should applaud her for this ... .Thecollection stands as an important and provocative dialogue betweentwo very rich areas of contemporary cultures and societies. Science Fiction and Philosophy gives us a chance to redeemscience