The Philosopher at the End of the Universe: Philosophy Explained Through Science Fiction Films

By Mark Rowlands

The thinker on the finish of the Universe demonstrates how somebody can seize the elemental ideas of philosophy whereas nonetheless keeping a bucket of popcorn. Mark Rowlands makes philosophy completely correct to our daily lives and divulges its such a lot effective messages utilizing not anything greater than a bit humor and the plotlines of a few of the main wonderful, pricey, high-octane motion pictures in the world.

Learn approximately: the character of fact from The Matrix, reliable and Evil from Star Wars, Morality from Aliens, own identification from Total Recall, The Mind-Body challenge from Terminator, loose Will from Minority Report, demise and the that means of lifestyles from Blade Runner, and masses extra. A look for wisdom approximately ourselves and the realm round us with a star-studded solid that incorporates: Tom Cruise, Plato, Harrison Ford, Immanuel Kant, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigourney Weaver, Rene? Descartes, and Keanu Reeves.

Rowlands anchors his discussions in simply understood daily phrases and relates them in a way effortless to spot with. Interspersed with a prepared shaggy dog story or , he splendidly explains why these SciFi videos we like loads are a lot deeper than they seem like at the floor. Mark Rowlands's pleasing and stimulating consultant is ideal for somebody trying to find wisdom of the realm round us.

If Keanu can comprehend Descartes absolutely each person can.

Show description

Quick preview of The Philosopher at the End of the Universe: Philosophy Explained Through Science Fiction Films PDF

Best Film books

Conquest of the Useless: Reflections from the Making of Fitzcarraldo

“Hypnotic…. it really is ever tempting to attempt to fathom his stressed spirit and his decision to problem destiny. ”—Janet Maslin, long island Times Werner Herzog (Grizzly guy) is without doubt one of the such a lot respected and enigmatic filmmakers of our time, and Fitzcarraldo is considered one of his so much venerated and popular films. More than just Herzog’s magazine of the making of the enormous, frustrating movie, which concerned, between different issues, significant solid alterations and reshoots, and the hauling (without using lighting tricks) of a 360-ton steamship over a mountain , Conquest of the dead is  a piece of paintings unto itself, an Amazonian fever dream that emerged from the delirium of the jungle.

Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey: New Essays

Just about all scholars have obvious 2001, yet almost none comprehend its inheritance, its complexities, and positively no longer its ironies. The essays during this assortment, commissioned from a large choice of students, research intimately a variety of attainable readings of the movie and its ancient context. additionally they research the movie as a style piece--as the summa of technological know-how fiction that concurrently appears to be like again at the technological know-how fiction conventions of the earlier (Kubrick begun contemplating creating a technology fiction movie throughout the genre's heyday within the fifties), rethinks the conference in gentle of the time of the film's production, and in flip alterations the glance and that means of the style that it revived--which now is still as well known because it was once nearly 4 many years in the past.

Silencing Cinema: Film Censorship around the World (Global Cinema)

Oppression via censorship impacts the movie way more usually than the other mass media. together with essays through best movie historians, the publication deals groundbreaking historic examine on movie censorship in significant movie construction nations and discover such cutting edge topics as movie censorship and authorship, faith, and colonialism.

The Columbia Companion to American History on Film

American historical past has continually been an impossible to resist resource of idea for filmmakers, and at the present time, for sturdy or sick, such a lot Americans'sense of the previous most likely comes extra from Hollywood than from the works of historians. In very important motion pictures similar to The beginning of a country (1915), Roots (1977), Apocalypse Now (1979), and Saving deepest Ryan (1998), how a lot is leisure and what sort of is rooted in ancient truth?

Extra resources for The Philosopher at the End of the Universe: Philosophy Explained Through Science Fiction Films

Show sample text content

Incompatibilism the view that freedom and causation are incompatible. If our activities, offerings and judgements are brought on, then, in accordance with incompatibilism, they can not be unfastened. Determinism is a sort of incompatibilism. So too is Indeterminism. Indeterminism the view that at the least a few human activities, offerings and judgements don't have factors and they are, for that reason, unfastened. it's accurately simply because they don't have factors that they're unfastened. the most objection to indeterminism is that it confuses freedom with randomness of spontaneity. Instrumental worth price factor has due to another factor that it will possibly assist you get. funds and medication, for instance, are invaluable no longer for what they're in themselves yet for different issues they could get you. Intentionality the aboutness or directedness of (some) psychological states. the assumption that Keanu Reeves is the celebrity of The Matrix is a trust approximately Keanu Reeves. the idea is, indirectly, directed in the direction of Keanu, and thanks to this is often approximately him. This directedness or aboutness is what philosophers suggest after they discuss intentionality. there are many difficulties attempting to comprehend accurately what this relation of aboutness is and, arguably, nobody has but get a hold of a passable concept of it. Intrinsic price worth factor has independently of the rest. in keeping with hedonists, excitement is intrinsically priceless since you wish it for its personal sake and never for different issues that it may get you. in keeping with Nietzsche, nevertheless, strength is intrinsically worthy. also known as inherent worth. Kant, Immanuel Eightheenth-century German thinker. such a lot influential thinker of the prior two hundred years. Made major contributions to metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. Led a really uneventful existence, and as a result tough to take the piss out of. Did have an important nostril even though. Laplace’s demon Hypothetical super-being in a position to precisely predicting the long run nation of the universe in keeping with an entire and exhaustive wisdom of its current nation. think the precogs of Minority document, after which think their powers prolonged to hide not only murders yet every little thing else too. Then you’ll have a superior notion of what Laplace’s demon can do. Materialism the view that truth is finally actual or fabric in nature. In reference to the mind–body challenge, it's the view that the brain is a actual factor, in general the mind. the placement defended through Arnie in Terminator (I and II). reminiscence conception the view that the identification of someone relies on their stories and different mental states. the basic center of anyone is composed in a community of comparable mental states. This was once the view so vividly defended by means of Verhoeven–Schwarzenegger in overall bear in mind (before Arnie went directly to reassess his dedication to this view within the 6th Day). Metaphysics the department of philosophy that bargains with the character of fact. kind of kind of like ontology. Mind–body challenge the matter of explaining the character of the brain and its relation to the physique.

Download PDF sample

Rated 4.48 of 5 – based on 11 votes