Transformers and Philosophy: More than Meets the Mind

Popular Culture and Philosophy #40

by John R. Shook (Editor), Liz Stillwaggon Swan (Editor)

Transformers began with toys and a cartoon series in 1984 and has since grown to include comic books, movies, and video games — its science fiction story has reached an audience with a wide range second only to that of Star Wars. Here, in Transformers and Philosophy, a dream team of philosophers pursues the fascinating questions posed by humankind’s encounter with an artificially intelligent mechanical Is genuine artificial intelligence possible? Would a robotic civilization come with its own morality and artistic life, and would it find a need for romantic love? Should we be more careful about developing robots that may eventually develop ideas of their own? Transformers and Philosophy puts Transformers under a microscope and exposes its philosophical implications in an instantly readable way.

Genres: Philosophy, Science Fiction

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2009

About the author

John R. Shook teaches philosophy at Bowie State University in Maryland. He is coeditor of The Blackwell Companion to Pragmatism and Neuroscience, Neurophilosophy, and Pragmatism.

He is also an instructor of science education for the ‘Science and the Public’ EdM online program at the University at Buffalo. In recent years he has been Adjunct Instructor in Philosophy and Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia; and Associate Fellow at the Center for Neurotechnology Studies in the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Virginia. Since 2015 he has contributed research for the US Department of Defense (DoD) Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) program. At Georgetown University, he works with James Giordano of the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics, and has mentored students in its Medical Ethics course. Dr. Shook’s research areas include history and philosophy of science, philosophy and ethics of technology, neurophilosophy, ethics and moral psychology, bioethics and neuroethics, medical humanities, and science-religion dialogue.

Reviews

[Abraham Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

great read,a little wordy but a good read non-the-less

[Aria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall great book!
Some essays included in this collection are quite a bit more riveting than others, but ultimately they all have good points of interest. I will say that once you’re about more than half way through the book it starts to repeat itself although it’s different writers saying similar and/or same things in their own words with their own justifications, it is still entertaining to read nonetheless.
I will say there’s a few chapters that set up the beginning which had me thinking about them for weeks after reading so overall even at its most lagging parts it was definitely worth the read. I would recommend this especially if you want to get into or are interested in philosophy and want to see some interesting applications to philosophical arguments and theories to a franchise that is more than meets the eye, such as Transformers.