Featuring numerous updates and enhancements, Science Fiction and Philosophy, 2nd Edition, presents a collection of readings that utilize concepts developed from science fiction to explore a variety of classic and contemporary philosophical issues.

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

“What are consciousness and free will? Will artificial beings have them? Do we? And do we owe an ethical debt to future generations, even if they wear quite different bodies, or minds? These, and countless other questions first raised by a century’s worth of canonical science fiction, are now ambitiously appraised by Susan Schneider in a volume that explores our philosophical frontier.” David Brin, astrophysicist and Times best-selling author of The Postman and Earth  “Susan Schneider has assembled an incredibly wide range of stimulating and accessible thoughts in these pages. The second edition of Science Fiction and Philosophy will fascinate anyone who enjoys thinking ‘outside of the box’ – though it might leave their minds in a whirl!” Martin Rees, UK Astronomer Royal  Thought experiments inspired by science fiction have been firing the philosophical imagination for centuries, offering meaningful insights into ethical quandaries, the notion of free will, and the very nature of our existence. Highly acclaimed upon its initial release, this second edition of Science Fiction and Philosophy presents an updated collection of readings that utilize concepts developed from science fiction to explore a variety of classic and contemporary philosophical issues – from the nature of minds and puzzles about virtual reality to the possibility of time travel and the unforeseen consequences of artificial intelligence. Featuring numerous updates, it also includes provocative new readings that address cutting-edge issues such as transhumanism and the so-called technological singularity, the hypothetical moment in time when artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence. Meaningful philosophical questions are raised while drawing on the genre’s most intriguing stories, novels, and films – everything from Brave New World and Blade Runner to The Matrix and The Hunger Games. As the convergence of science fiction with modern technology draws ever closer, Science Fiction and Philosophy, Second Edition offers invaluable insights into both classic philosophical ideas and the future of humanity itself. Susan Schneider is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at the University of Connecticut, USA, and a faculty member in the Technology and Ethics Group at the Yale Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. She is the author of The Language of Thought: A New Philosophical Direction (2011) and the co-editor of The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness (with Max Vellmans, 2006).

"Schneider's anthology, as it stands, is a great introduction to many of the fundamental theoretical issues raised by SF. Each topic is covered with a panel of accessible texts. One will also appreciate the presence of several short stories and references to related works of SF in every section of the book." (Metapsychology online reviews 2016)

"What are consciousness and free will? Will artificial beings have them? Do we? And do we owe an ethical debt to future generations, even if they wear quite different bodies, or minds? These, and countless other questions first raised by a century’s worth of canonical science fiction, are now ambitiously appraised by Susan Schneider in a volume that explores our philosophical frontier.”       David Brin, astrophysicist and Times best-selling author of The Postman and Earth  "Susan Schneider has assembled an incredibly wide range of stimulating and accessible thoughts in these pages. The second edition of Science Fiction and Philosophy will fascinate anyone who enjoys thinking 'outside of the box'—though it might leave their minds in a whirl!"             Martin Rees, 'UK Astronomer Royal'