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The science fiction genre maintains a remarkable hold on the imagination and enthusiasm of the filmgoing public, captivating large audiences worldwide and garnering ever-larger profits. Science fiction films entertain the possibility of time travel and extraterrestrial visitation and imaginatively transport us to worlds transformed by modern science and technology. They also provide a medium through which questions about personal identity, moral agency, artificial consciousness, and other categories of experience can be addressed. In The Philosophy of Science Fiction Film, distinguished authors explore the storylines, conflicts, and themes of fifteen science fiction film classics, from Metropolis to The Matrix. Editor Steven M. Sanders and a group of outstanding scholars in philosophy, film studies, and other fields raise science fiction film criticism to a new level by penetrating the surface of the films to expose the underlying philosophical arguments, ethical perspectives, and metaphysical views. Sanders's introduction presents an overview and evaluation of each essay and poses questions for readers to consider as they think about the films under discussion.The first section, "Enigmas of Identity and Agency," deals with the nature of humanity as it is portrayed in Blade Runner, Dark City, Frankenstein, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Total Recall. In the second section, "Extraterrestrial Visitation, Time Travel, and Artificial Intelligence," contributors discuss 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator, 12 Monkeys, and The Day the Earth Stood Still and analyze the challenges of artificial intelligence, the paradoxes of time travel, and the ethics of war. The final section, "Brave Newer World: Science Fiction Futurism," looks at visions of the future in Metropolis, The Matrix, Alphaville, and screen adaptations of George Orwell's 1984.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright Page
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  1. Contents
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  1. Preface and Acknowledgments
  2. pp. vii-viii
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  1. An Introduction to the Philosophyof Science Fiction Film
  2. pp. 1-18
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  1. Part 1: Enigmas of Identity and Agency
  1. What Is It to Be Human? Blade Runner and Dark City
  2. pp. 21-28
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  1. Recalling the Self: Personal Identity in Total Recall
  2. pp. 39-54
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  1. Picturing Paranoia:Interpreting Invasion of the Body Snatchers
  2. pp. 55-72
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  1. The Existential Frankenstein
  2. pp. 73-88
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  1. Part 2: Extraterrestrial Visitation, Time Travel, and Artificial Intelligence
  1. Technology and Ethics inThe Day the Earth Stood Still
  2. pp. 91-102
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  1. Some Paradoxes of Time Travel in The Terminator and 12 Monkeys
  2. pp. 103-118
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  1. 2001: A Philosophical Odyssey
  2. pp. 119-134
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  1. Terminator-Fear and theParadox of Fiction
  2. pp. 135-150
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  1. Part 3: Brave Newer World: Science Fiction Futurism
  1. The Dialectic of Enlightenment in Metropolis
  2. pp. 153-170
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  1. Imagining the Future, Contemplating the Past: The Screen Versions of 1984
  2. pp. 171-190
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  1. Disenchantment and Rebellion in Alphaville
  2. pp. 191-206
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  1. The Matrix, the Cave, and the Cogito
  2. pp. 207-222
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  1. Contributors
  2. pp. 223-226
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 227-232
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