Journal of Science Fiction and Philosophy
The Journal of Science Fiction and Philosophy is a peer-reviewed, online, open access journal that aims to foster the appreciation of science fiction as a medium for philosophical reflection. It focuses on the analysis of philosophical themes in science fiction in all formats, and on their use for the discussion, teaching, and narrative modeling of philosophical ideas.
The journal invites submissions from any discipline in philosophy, including both analytic and continental approaches. It aims both to serve as a medium for academic dialogue and to attract and introduce a non-academic public to philosophical discussions.
CURRENT ISSUE:
Vol. 6 (2023): The Promises and Peril of Artificial Intelligence
Science fiction authors have covered all ranges of opinions and possibilities regarding the development of artificially intelligent beings. Robots, supercomputers, cybermen, replicants, even overgrown space probes, these have been envisioned as mindless laborers, loyal sidekicks, menacing overlords, wise saviors, genocidal exterminators, sly impersonators, artificial friends, or as a new form of slave underclass. As we approach the technological capacity to create artifacts that may become performatively indistinguishable from human activity, philosophical questions about them become increasingly urgent, whether it be questions about their being (metaphysical and epistemological), or about their treatment and place in society (ethical and political). Should we think of artificially intelligent beings as objects, tools, servants, saviors, competitors, partners..?
Published: 2023-06-01 (June 1, 2023)
YEARLY THEME (PEER-REVIEWED)
Disentangling Human Nature from Moral Status: Lessons For and From Philip K. Dick
James Okapal
Transcendence: Measuring Intelligence
Marten Kaas
General Articles (Peer-Reviewed)
Demiurge and Deity: The Cosmical Theology of Olaf Stapledon’s Star Maker
Joshua Hall
The Desire for Immortality: The Posthuman Bodies in Ken Liu’s The Waves
Junge Dou
Andrew Fiala
Stephen S. Hanson
Previous ISSUE:
Vol. 5 (2022)
Published: 2022-06-15 (June 15, 2022)
General Articles (Peer-Reviewed)
The Politics of Truth in China: Ontological-Ethical Dimensions of Science and Science Fiction
Lennon Zhang
Children of the Mind and the Concept of Edge and Center Nations
Steven Foertsch
Ex Machina: Testing Machines for Consciousness and Socio-Relational Machine Ethics
Harrison S. Jackson
The Morality of Artificial Friends in Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun
Jakob Stenseke
A Grammar in Two Dimensions: The Temporal Mechanics of Arrival and the Semantics/Pragmatics Divide
A.G. Holdier
Jaws Within Jaws: A Cosmopolitical Ecology of Alien
Eric Macedo
Conscientious Utilitarianism; or, the Utilitarians Who Walk Away from Omelas
Andrew Dennis Bassford
Book Reviews
Stefano Bigliardi
See ALL ISSUES
Vol. 4 (2021): The Day that Coronavirus Stopped the Earth! What Do We Learn About Pandemics in Science Fiction Stories?
For nearly two centuries science fiction authors have been playing around with an enormous variety of pandemic scenarios. While some stories focus on attempts to avert them, many explore their catastrophic consequences, or the plight of victims and survivors in-between, and the ways in which the most trivial daily routines and the simple facts of life we take for granted may be critically, perhaps permanently disrupted. From eerily prophetic accounts of origin and spread (Stephen Soderbergh’s Contagion) to post-apocalyptic tales of heart-wrenching loneliness (Francis Lawrence’s I Am Legend), SF stories anticipate the plight that humanity is facing during the COVID pandemic. This volume invites us to reflect on the lessons from science fiction stories, and how they help us illuminate philosophically our present times.
Published: 2021-06-01 (June 1, 2021)
Vol 3 (2020): The Blue Pill Dilemma: Is Knowledge a Blessing or a Curse?
The question about choosing between harsh truths or willful ignorance is as old as Plato’s Cave; older perhaps, down to the Tree of Good and Evil. Science Fiction writers can be as illuminating as they can be ambiguous. In the original Matrix Neo took the Red Pill, choosing Truth – and got himself into a world of trouble. Wouldn’t the Blue Pill (of “Ignorance is Bliss”) have served him better? This volume examines the double-edged quality of knowledge, as explored in a variety of SF scenarios. Can a truth cause more harm than a lie? Can we live in self-deception? Is there a danger of knowing too much? Is knowledge something inherently good, worth seeking for its own sake, is it just a neutral tool, or is it, perhaps, something better left alone?
Published: 2020-03-31 (March 31, 2020)
Journal of Science Fiction and Philosophy – ISSN: 2573-881X
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