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Philosophers' Science Fiction Recommendations - Yazata - Feb 28, 2018
For what it's worth, here's a whole bunch of philosophers' recommendations of science fiction novels (and films and short-stories) they liked:
http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~eschwitz/SchwitzPapers/SF-MasterList-150813-byrecommender.pdf
I was struck by how bad some of their suggestions were. Others were good though, and there are valuable hints regarding novels that probably deserve reading.
RE: Philosophers' Science Fiction Recommendations - Magical Realist - Feb 28, 2018
I am drawn to sci-fi films that stretch the genre towards philosophical themes. Bladerunner focused on the issue of what it is to be a conscious human and if in fact AI could prove the functionalist thesis. The Matrix dealt with the old "brain in a jar" trope quite literally as well as the nature of simulation vs reality (Baudrillard's "The Simulacrum" was flashed in one scene). Naked Lunch skirted the domain of hallucinogenic experience and the existence of alternate realities. Altered States took a Jungian approach in exploring the nature of consciousness and the collective unconscious. Moon was an excellent treatment of the theme of personal identity and the nature of being cloned. Arrival revealed the complexity of human communication with a more advanced non-human intelligence. The Lobster was a surrealist rendition of a future totalitarian state which controls humans thru its constraints on their bodies and their sexuality (in line with Foucault's ideas). Ex Machina deals with the ethical nature of a human replicant. Finally, Gattaca was an analysis of a future eugenic society where the genetically unengineered "invalids" are ostracizied and discriminated against.