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Sci-phi : science fiction as philosophy

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  • Temps de fonctionnement: 13:35 hrs
    Publisher:
    The Great Courses, 2018
    Note: This book was purchased with support from the Government of Canada's Social Development Partnerships Program - Disability Component.
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    Certified Accessible By: National Network for Equitable Library Service
    Temps de fonctionnement: 13:35 hrs
    Publisher:
    BC Libraries Cooperative, 2024
    Note: This book was produced with support from the Government of Canada's Social Development Partnerships Program - Disability Component.

Details:

  • Date:
    Created
    2018
    Summary:

    The science fiction genre has become increasingly influential in mainstream popular culture, evolving into one of the most engaging storytelling tools we use to think about technology and consider the shape of the future. Along the way, it has also become one of the major lenses we use to explore important philosophical questions. The origins of science fiction are most often thought to trace to Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, a story born from a night of spooky tale-telling by the fireside that explores scientific, moral, and ethical questions that were of great concern in the 19th century--and that continue to resonate today. And, although novels and short stories built the foundations of science fiction, film and television have emerged as equally powerful, experimental, and enjoyable ways to experience the genre. Even as far back as the silent era, films like Fritz Lang's Metropolis have used science fiction to tell stories that explore many facets of human experience. In Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy, Professor of Philosophy David Kyle Johnson, of King's College, takes you on a 24-lecture exploration of the final frontiers of philosophy across several decades of science fiction in film and television. From big-budget blockbusters to television series featuring aliens in rubber masks, Professor Johnson finds food for philosophical thought in a wide range of stories. By looking at serious questions through astonishing tales and astounding technologies, you will see how science fiction allows us to consider immense, vital--and sometimes controversial--ideas with a rare combination of engagement and critical distance.

    Contents:
    • Disc 1: Inception and the interpretation of art
    • The matrix and the value of knowledge
    • Disc 2: The Matrix sequels and the human free will
    • The Adjustment bureau, the force and fate
    • Disc 3: Contact : Science versus religion
    • Arrival : Aliens and radical translation
    • Disc 4: Interstellar : is time travel possible?
    • Doctor Who and time travel paradoxes
    • Disc 5: Star Trek : TNG and alternate worlds
    • Dark city, Dollhouse, and Personal Identity
    • Disc 6: Westeorld and A.I. Artificial Intelligence
    • Transcendence and the Dangers of AI
    • Disc 7: The thirteenth floor : are we simulated?
    • The Orville, Orwell, and the "Black Mirror"
    • Disc 8: Star Wars : good versus Evil
    • Firefly, Blake's 7, and political rebellion
    • Disc 9: Starship troopers, Doctor Who, and Just war
    • The prime directive and Postcolonialism
    • Disc 10: Capitalism in Metropolis, Elysium, and Panem
    • Snowpiercer and climate change
    • Disc 11: Soylent Green : overpopulation and Euthanasia
    • Gattaca and the ethics of reproduction
    • Disc 12: The Handmaid's tale : feminism and religion
    • Kubrick's 2001 and Nietzsche's Übermensch.
    Original Publisher: Chantilly, The Great Courses
    Language(s): English
    ISBN: 9781682769607, 1682769607