Science Fiction and Philosophy
“Let us open the door to age-old questions about our very nature, the nature of the universe, and whether there are limits to what we, as humans, can understand. But as old as these issues are, let us do something relatively new – let us borrow from the world of science fiction thought experiments to fire the philosophical imagination. Good science fiction rarely disappoints; good philosophy more rarely still.” –Susan Schneider
Recently I went through a phase where I read many of the greats in SF. Books like Kurt Vonneguts Slaughterhouse-Five, Philip K. Dick's Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep? and Walter Millers A Canticle For Leibowitz; as well as other's: The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert A. Heinlein, 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke and Gateway by Frederik Pohl, (and many others). There is something in these books that many more recent books lack. Philosophical Value. Their underlying themes in life and death, morality and ethics, race and the meaning of life, (to name a few themes) are bold and widely insightful. Fewer and fewer SF books are focused on such great meaning and in my searches I have found only a handful of modern SF writers who incorporate highly sophisticated philosophical themes or ideas. Some of these authors include Dan Simmons, Neal Stephenson, Philip Pullman, Connie Willis and Suzanne Collins. (This is only a few or relatively many, however, more and more writers are coming onto the SF scene writing only for entertainment value and not intellectual merit).
Here, it is not my place to judge those writers that lack in incorporating philosophical themes as their early predecessor have, but to muse on, and expound on the philosophical value found in many science fiction books.
One important theme in many books is that of consciousness. This is found often in stories involving artificial intelligence (AI) or that of alien life. What constitutes consciousness? In Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Empathy, or what is required for a creature to have empathy is a major theme in the book: Empathy being a way of understanding and detecting consciousness. His story underlines the issues in detecting if an individual is an android or human, empathy being the key emotion to look for. "...ultimately, the empathic gift blurred the boundaries between hunter and victim, between the successful and the defeated."2 As it grew harder to determine if an individual was conscious or not (showed empathy or not) questions cropped up subtly and yet powerfully about what constitutes consciousness. In the above quote, Rick Deckard (the protagonist, of sorts), ponders the vague lines drawn between those creatures that are empathetic and those things which do not have that ability. One of the novel's major themes revolves around the question of what traits make something human and what trait ensures survival or defeat.
An interesting aspect of the book shows that humans, (who are empathetic) now have drugs the can take to make them feel any number of ways or emotions. These very from general feeling of happiness or contentedness, to depression or even compliance to ones husband. They are artificial and Philip K. Dick seems to outline even further the obscure outline and requirements of consciousness.
Another book dealing a lot with consciousness and even empathy is Dan Simmons Hyperion Cantos. Even more so, the last two books, Endymion and The Rise of Endymion. The books underline the human experience and focus on what the power of empathy gives – a type of godhood, a relationship with other individuals that makes one aware of ones self in relation to others and a comparatively expansive view of consciousness. The book as well describes human emotion, experience and understanding.
The essence of human experience lay not primarily in the peak experiences, the wedding days and triumphs which stood out in the memory like dates circled in red on old calendars, but, rather, in the unself-conscious flow of little things--the weekend afternoon with each member of the family engaged in his or her own pursuit, their crossings and connections casual, dialogues imminently forgettable, but the sum of such hours creating a synergy which was important and eternal.
The human experience is another major theme in science fiction. One of the greatest science fiction books, written by Kurt Vonnegut, is Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut, with his witty dark humor gives the reader an outline of what it is not only to be human but to be alive in time. He, in the first chapter of his book shows the weakness and faultiness in the human experience when he says, after outlining the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, focusing on Lots wife,
“And Lot's wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. So she was turned into a pillar of salt. So it goes.”
Through Slaughterhouse-five, Vonnegut shows the effects of war and love and hate on humans. He outlines human emotions in an almost flippant way. One major theme in this anti-war SF novel seems to be that in general terms men (humans) do not like each other. This is an important theme in the book, as it depicts multiple people who simply allow bad things to happen.
Near the end, after the bombing of Dresden, (a focus point in the story) when Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist, is scolded by a German woman for the condition of the horse that had been pulling a wagon for him and the others with him. The horse was bloodied and the hooves were in a poor and painful condition. It was at this point Billy wept – not for his fallen comrades or for the devastation of the bombing, but for this horse. That was the trigger that set him off into a sobbing mess, and in certain ways more humane than most. Showing not only the frailty and complexity of the human experience but a certain type of empathy. And empathy for living, anything living and breathing and feeling. There is an empathy there. It is similar to that of a dog that needed to be put down or any pet that his hit by a car.
When I was young, a teenager, I remember my own dog coming home mangled, having obviously gotten in a fight with another dog, more than likely losing. My heart bled for her. The same feeling came when my wife and I had to give our own dog away when moving into an apartment complex that did not allow pets. These feelings were strong for me, and Vonnegut underlines the complexities of humanity in his book, showing that emotions are complicated things.
Human experience can span any number of similar themes, including empathy. I have found that this is one of the largest themes in many SF books. I feel that I am obligated to explain how SF views of the human experience differ from classics such as Oliver Twist, or Pride and Prejudice.
Technology, science, industry are growing at an exponential rate and continuing to do so. These things affect our daily lives in profound ways. We have internet access in most places in the world, we have technology that can do anything from telling us where to eat to firing neutrons towards each other at 0.99c (.99% the speed of light), and colliding them. We are advancing in space travel. Companies such as Space X are readily surpassing even NASA in space flight technology. We are able to speak to someone on the opposite side of the globe in an instance as well as mimic the power of the sun in nuclear fusion.
Paul Brians, Emeritus Professor of English at Washington State University said, “Science fiction [is] fiction based on rational speculation regarding the human experience of science and its resultant technologies.” Through technology humanity is growing and in that the human experience is gaining a broader spectrum of experience. Science fiction uses this knowledge and expounds on it. It underlines what technology can do for us in not only a technical aspect but in a philosophical aspect as well. Part of life, now, is technology and these advancements effect us in many ways. We can understand not only where humanity may go, what views and issues we many need to face in the future, such as AI, real consciousness, rebellions on massive scales or even the hardship of leaving this planet, but can relate to our lives now. SF can show us where were really are, where humanity is now and how we can potentially be changed in the future. The philosophy of consciousness is a large and growing field, for instance, and science fiction expounds on the possible futures of this study in a way that no other fiction genre could approach easily and profoundly.
In closing up this section of the importance of SF I would like to quote Kingsley Amis, an English novelist,
“Is it any wonder that a new generation has rediscovered science fiction, rediscovered a form of literature that argues through its intuitive force that the individual can shape and change and influence and triumph; that man can eliminate both war and poverty; that miracles are possible; that love, if given a chance, can become the main driving force of human relationship?”
SF enriches human life in its approachable views of a philosophical life. It is relevant and important and inspirational. Through science fiction we are able to gain a greater understanding into philosophies, empathy, human condition, etc. are only a few of the many and broad landscapes that SF has to offer in the area of philosophy.
*Next, Part IV: Science Fiction and Religion
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