80-106 Science Fiction and Philosophy
9 units, Carnegie Mellon University
Morpheus Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real What if you were unable to wake from that dream How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world The movie The Matrix is not the first venue in which such questions have been asked. The philosopher Ren Descartes asked very similar questions in the seventeenth century. In fact, philosophers often reflect on these kinds of thought experiments in order to examine fundamental philosophical questions. In this course, we will examine a number of philosophical issues raised in science fiction stories, novels and movies. The idea is that science fiction most often revolves around something foreign to usaliens, cyborgs, time travel. And confronting what is most foreign to us is often the best way to learn about ourselves. And this is exactly what philosophy is an investigation of the human condition. We will use stories and movies as stepping stones for addressing questions such as the following How is knowledge possible What is real What is the mind, and how does it interact with the body Can computers think Are humans ultimately free What makes our lives valuable How should we live
Prerequisites: none listed
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