Science Fiction and Philosophy

<p>Introduction</p>
<p>Thought Experiments: Science Fiction as a Window into Philosophical Puzzles 1<br />Susan Schneider</p>
<p>Part I Could I Be in a Matrix or Computer Simulation?</p>
<p>Related Works: The Matrix; Avatar; Ender s Game; The Hunger Games; Simulacron ]3; Ubik; Tron; Permutation City; Vanilla Sky; Total Recall 17</p>
<p>1 Reinstalling Eden: Happiness on a Hard Drive 19<br />Eric Schwitzgebel and R. Scott Bakker</p>
<p>2 Are You in a Computer Simulation? 22<br />Nick Bostrom</p>
<p>3 Plato s Cave. Excerpt from The Republic 26<br />Plato</p>
<p>4 Some Cartesian thought Experiments. Excerpt from The Meditations on First Philosophy 30<br />Ren&eacute; Descartes</p>
<p>5 The Matrix as Metaphysics 35<br />David J. Chalmers</p>
<p>Part II What Am I? Free Will and the Nature of Persons</p>
<p>Related 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 55</p>
<p>6 Where Am I? 57<br />Daniel C. Dennett</p>
<p>7 Personal Identity 69<br />Eric Olson</p>
<p>8 Divided Minds and the Nature of Persons 91<br />Derek Parfit</p>
<p>9 Who Am I? What Am I? 99<br />Ray Kurzweil</p>
<p>10 Free Will and Determinism in the World of Minority Report 104<br />Michael Huemer</p>
<p>11 Excerpt from The Book of Life: A Thought Experiment 114<br />Alvin I. Goldman</p>
<p>Part III Mind: Natural, Artificial, Hybrid, and Superintelligent</p>
<p>Related 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 117</p>
<p>12 Robot Dreams 119<br />Isaac Asimov</p>
<p>13 A Brain Speaks 125<br />Andy Clark</p>
<p>14 Cyborgs Unplugged 130<br />Andy Clark</p>
<p>15 Superintelligence and Singularity 146<br />Ray Kurzweil</p>
<p>16 The Singularity: A Philosophical Analysis 171<br />David J. Chalmers</p>
<p>17 Alien Minds 225<br />Susan Schneider</p>
<p>Part IV Ethical and Political Issues</p>
<p>Related 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 243</p>
<p>18 The Man on the Moon 245<br />George J. Annas</p>
<p>19 Mindscan: Transcending and Enhancing the Human Brain 260<br />Susan Schneider</p>
<p>20 The Doomsday Argument 277<br />John Leslie</p>
<p>21 The Last Question 279<br />Isaac Asimov</p>
<p>22 Asimov s Three Laws of Robotics and Machine Metaethics 290<br />Susan Leigh Anderson</p>
<p>23 The Control Problem. Excerpts from Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies 308<br />Nick Bostrom</p>
<p>Part V Space and Time</p>
<p>Related Works: Interstellar; Twelve Monkeys; Slaughterhouse ]Five; All You Zombies; The Time Machine; Back to the Future; Flatland: A Romance in Many Dimensions; Anathem 331</p>
<p>24 A Sound of Thunder 333<br />Ray Bradbury</p>
<p>25 Time 343<br />Theodore Sider</p>
<p>26 The Paradoxes of Time Travel 357<br />David Lewis</p>
<p>27 The Quantum Physics of Time Travel 370<br />David Deutsch and Michael Lockwood</p>
<p>28 Miracles and Wonders: Science Fiction as Epistemology 384<br />Richard Hanley</p>
<p>Appendix: Philosophers Recommend Science Fiction 393<br />Eric Schwitzgebel</p>
<p>Index 410</p>