Personhood in Science Fiction
Religious and Philosophical Considerations
Authors: Gittinger, Juli L.
Free Preview- First book to focus exclusively on personhood in science fiction.
- Analyzes classic literature, popular television, and film.
- Explores the question of what it means to be 'human.'
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- About this book
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This book addresses the topic of personhood—who is a “person” or “human,” and what rights or dignities does that include—as it has been addressed through the lens of science fiction. Chapters include discussions of consciousness and the soul, artificial intelligence, dehumanization and othering, and free will. Classic and modern sci-fi texts are engaged, as well as film and television. This book argues that science fiction allows us to examine the profound question of personhood through its speculative and imaginative nature, highlighting issues that are already visible in our present world.
- About the authors
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Juli L. Gittinger is a Lecturer of South Asian religions and Program Coordinator for Religion at Georgia College, USA. Her areas of personal research interest include Hindu nationalism, religion in media, and religion/pop culture.
- Reviews
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“In Personhood in Science Fiction, Juli Gittinger does more than merely survey or even analyse the treatment of persons human, alien, and android across some of the most popular sci-fi franchises of recent years. She engages with one of the most puzzling and ethically challenging questions there is, in conversation with everyone from philosophers to neuroscientists to theologians—and yes, of course, our most beloved science fiction authors. Although engaging with highly technical matters, Gittinger does so in a way that is impressively accessible. The result is a book that is of great significance for all the aforementioned fields and many others, and deserves to be read and discussed widely. Juli Gittinger skilfully leads readers on a quest for the souls of androids and aliens, and in the process helps us discover and explore our own.” (James F. McGrath, Professor of Religion, Butler University, USA)
- Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Introduction
Pages 1-17
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Defining Personhood in a Posthuman World
Pages 19-40
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Dehumanization of the “Nonhuman” Being
Pages 41-74
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Embodied and Non-bodied Selves
Pages 75-107
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Ethics and AI
Pages 109-143
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
Bibliographic Information
- Bibliographic Information
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- Book Title
- Personhood in Science Fiction
- Book Subtitle
- Religious and Philosophical Considerations
- Authors
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- Juli L. Gittinger
- Copyright
- 2019
- Publisher
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Copyright Holder
- The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
- eBook ISBN
- 978-3-030-30062-3
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-3-030-30062-3
- Hardcover ISBN
- 978-3-030-30061-6
- Softcover ISBN
- 978-3-030-30064-7
- Edition Number
- 1
- Number of Pages
- IX, 245
- Topics
