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How to Live Forever: Science Fiction and Philosophy
Immortality is a subject which has long been explored and imagined by science fiction writers. In his intriguing new study, Stephen R.L.Clark argues that the genre of science fiction writing allows investigation of philosophical questions about immortality without the constraints of academic philosophy. He reveals how fantasy accounts of issues such as resurrection, disembodied survival, reincarnation and devices or drugs for preserving life can be used as an important resource for philosophical inquiry and examines how a society of immortals might function through a reading of the vampire myth.
How to Live Forever is a compelling study which introduces students and professional philosophers to the possibilities of using science fiction in their work. It includes extensive suggestions for further reading, both fictional and philosophical, and examines the work of such major science fiction authors as Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert, Larry Niven, William Gibson, and Colin Wilson.
How to Live Forever is a compelling study which introduces students and professional philosophers to the possibilities of using science fiction in their work. It includes extensive suggestions for further reading, both fictional and philosophical, and examines the work of such major science fiction authors as Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert, Larry Niven, William Gibson, and Colin Wilson.
231 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 26, 1995
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November 1, 2019
This book is written by a philosopher who is not only a science fiction fan, but who believes considering SF can enrich philosphical thought. The author is especially interested in showing how various SF writings illustrate neo-Platonic themes of "a higher self" and of "realms beyond being".
So many works of SF are discussed in this book that it can feel hard to keep up, but I didn't feel it made following the discussions difficult at all.
Clark is a very imaginative and clear writer himself. To give one example of many that stuck with me:
"The image of the world we have been busily constructing for the last few centuries is a triumph of the imagination -- but not one that we should reckon absolute ... Having decided not to think that secondary (or subjective) qualities are real, we find -- to our astonishment -- that the imagined world of 'primary' or 'measurable' qualities does not offer any intelligible explanation for the existence of secondary qualities or subjectivity in general."
This comes in the middle of a discussion linking Keats on the imagination, Gordon Dickson's Childe Cycle, and William Blake's Ulro, the world without qualities. "So far from Ulro 'explaining' our subjective world, that world (which is our primary reality) explains Ulro."
So many works of SF are discussed in this book that it can feel hard to keep up, but I didn't feel it made following the discussions difficult at all.
Clark is a very imaginative and clear writer himself. To give one example of many that stuck with me:
"The image of the world we have been busily constructing for the last few centuries is a triumph of the imagination -- but not one that we should reckon absolute ... Having decided not to think that secondary (or subjective) qualities are real, we find -- to our astonishment -- that the imagined world of 'primary' or 'measurable' qualities does not offer any intelligible explanation for the existence of secondary qualities or subjectivity in general."
This comes in the middle of a discussion linking Keats on the imagination, Gordon Dickson's Childe Cycle, and William Blake's Ulro, the world without qualities. "So far from Ulro 'explaining' our subjective world, that world (which is our primary reality) explains Ulro."
Displaying 1 of 1 review