Philosophy Now Forum

Philosophy loves science fiction. Or is the other way around, that science fiction loves philosophy? What ever it is, both speculate and help present and explain hypotheticals. They help conduct thought experiments about the future and possible scenarios. The format of science fiction is a vehicle a writer can use to express a certain philosophy that could not otherwise be presented or explained. And philosophy can help legitimize a science fiction story which otherwise might sound ridiculous and implausible. Both genres give heft to the other.

We have science fiction. But is there such a thing a philosophy fiction. Perhaps science fiction is really philosophy fiction. And that begs the question about weather science and philosophy are that separate from each other. Stephen Hawking thinks they are and believes that philosophy is no longer of use. Quine said that the philosophy of science was philosophy enough. Perhaps the opposite is also true.

What would the stories of Frankenstein by Mary Shelly or The Time Machine by H.G. Wells be like if they hadn't had the added touch of the writers' philosophical take on life? My sense is that they would be bullshit. To my mined that is what most science fiction is, bullshit, without the added touch of philosophy, which gives the genre credence.

name of the rose by eco

-Imp

Olaf Stapledon wrote two of the greatest sci-fi books ever written and his day job was in a philosophy department.

"Brave New World" is philosophical about human nature and human happiness.

I was puzzled by the skin disease of the clones. Was it unavoidable ?

This sounds like science fiction but human-like DNA is being used to store data. (The practice is still in its infancy.) Up to now the data that is used in computing has been stored and warehoused in huge facilities that require a lot of electricity. A constant flow of electricity is required to keep the data galvanized. I am not quite sure how it works but DNA storage of data will not require the huge amounts of electricity that are now being used. DNA and the data it has on it does not require electricity to keep it galvanized.

Image the data we have stored on our own DNA. It is like our memory stick. Imagine also that someday somebody will be able to tap into our own personal DNA to extract personal information. Everything we've done in life or thought will be have been encoded on our DNA. So if a terrorist is interrogated for information and is not forthcoming he wouldn't have to be tortured. Instead, the interrogators will just tap into his DNA - no fuss, no muss.

When science fiction becomes reality that's when philosophy comes of age. Up to that point philosophy is mostly theory and speculation. Nevertheless, philosophy can be of service to science fiction on the road to becoming reality. It acts as the middleman between theory, which science fiction is, and practice. Philosophy is the discussion that takes place about the possibility of science fiction becoming a reality or operational.

Robots have been science fiction for years. Driverless cars have been science fiction since the the 1950s. But no longer. They are becoming a reality. Google is developing and promoting them for use. And this raises new philosophical questions.

When robots were just science fiction the philosophical discussion was about if they were possible and how they might change our lives. Today, now that they are reality , the philosophical discussion is different. Most robots are used in manufacturing and a lot of the talk is about the human cost and the jobs they have displaced. We are also hearing a lot about drones that are used by the military to seek out and kill terrorist. The philosophical discussion there circles around whether it is morally right to use them and where the authority to use them should come from. Drones are also being used by police departments and the paparazzi industry, further invading people's privacy. Why, someday being that metaphoric fly on the wall might truly become a reality.

Philosophy Now, issue 72, did a cover story on moral machines, as to whether they exist or should be made to exist. In a way the robotic, driverless car is a moral machine. It is designed and programmed to behave properly, to protect its passengers from accidents. It will be a great way for the elderly, who have no longer the capacity to drive, to still get around in an independent fashion.

But the driverless car raise philosophical questions from others, about losing their independence if they have to rely on them to get around. Some might view the driverless car as conspiratorial, as another move by the powers that be to take control.

Now there is an example of philosophy fiction, conspiracy theories.

The other day I came across the journal Radical Philosophy. It didn't deem that radical. I am thinking that science fiction can also be considered radical philosophy.

Here is a piece of radical philosophy, and perhaps science fiction: Humans are designed to be filtration plants that help purify the environment, like trees do. In other words, human organs are designed to absorb pollutants from the environment and the atmosphere. The increase in cancer rates shows that it is working. One more thing, the rise we have seen in the human population correlates with the increase of pollutants in the world that need cleaning up. Perhaps the increase in obesity has also something to do with it.

I think that those who in the past believed that the environment of today would be unsustainable and in total ruin would be astonished at how the environment has managed to restore itself. A lot of the credit should go to humans and their organs that are absorbing a lot of the pollutants humankind produces.

What we should do is develop artificial organs that do the work human organs are doing now to help clean up the environment so that there are not so many human deaths related to it.

I contend that Sf

or Speculative Fiction.

IS the most pertinent philosophy of our times.
Who remembers The great thinkers..
None.

who remember star wars
Sciience FANTASY

everyone.

When the proles are educated enough to know why it is FANTASY.. humanity will have upped a rung on ladder.

arrogance or simple observation?