You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Reunites the editors of Star Trek and Philosophy with Starfleet’s finest experts for 31 new, highly logical essays Features a complete examination of the Star Trek universe, from the original series to the most recent films directed by J.J. Abrams, Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) Introduces important concepts in philosophy through the vast array of provocative issues raised by the series, such as the ethics of the Prime Directive, Star Trek’s philosophy of peace, Data and Voyager’s Doctor as persons, moral relativism and the Federation’s quest for liberation, the effect of alternate universes on reality and identity, the Borg as transhumanists, Federation Trekonomics, Star Trek’s secular society, and much, much more...! An enterprising and enlightening voyage into deep space that will appeal to hardcore fans and science fiction enthusiasts alike Publishing in time to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the original TV series
Ever since TIME magazine's 1983 'Man of the Year' was the PC, we have been led to believe that our domestic spaces have been colonized by digital technology. Too little attention has been paid to the domestic spaces and inhabitants impacted by this, and critical posthumanism has been captured by a picture of humanity overly indebted to digital technologies and their largely male progenitors. By applying feminist theory to posthumanism, this work recovers the plethora of sophisticated human-technology mediations associated with the home and practiced primarily by women, the elderly, infants, the disabled and across cultures globally, challenging dominant, contemporary visions of a future huma...
"Since its inception, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been nurtured by the dream - cherished by some scientists while dismissed as unrealistic by others - that it will lead to forms of intelligence similar or alternative to human life. However, AI might be more accurately described as a range of technologies providing a convincing illusion of intelligence - in other words, not much the creation of intelligent beings, but rather of technologies that are perceived by humans as such. Deceitful Media argues that AI resides also and especially in the perception of human users. Exploring the history of AI from its origins in the Turing Test to contemporary AI voice assistants such as Alexa and Si...
This work studies three twenty-first century novels by Richard Powers, Dave Eggers and Don DeLillo as representative of a new trend of US fiction concerned with the topic of the technological augmentation of the human condition. The different chapters provide, from the double perspective of the optimistic transhumanist philosophy and the more balanced approach of critical posthumanism, an overview of the narrative strategies used by the writers to explore the possibilities that biotechnology, digital technologies and cryonics open up to transcend our human limitations, while also warning their readers of their most nefarious consequences. Ultimately, the book puts forward the claim that even if the writers approach the subject from a variety of perspectives and using different narrative styles and techniques, they all share a critical posthumanist fear that an unrestrained and unquestioned use of technology for enhancement purposes may bring about disembodiment and dehumanization.
Though the progress of technology continually pushes life toward virtual existence, the last decade has witnessed a renewed focus on materiality. Design, Mediation, and the Posthuman bears witness to the attention paid byliterary theorists, digital humanists, rhetoricians, philosophers, and designers to the crafted environment, the manner in which artifacts mediate human relations, and the constitution of a world in which the boundary between humans and things has seemingly imploded. The chapters reflect on questions about the extent to which we ought to view humans and nonhuman artifacts as having equal capacity for agency and life, and the ways in which technological mediation challenges t...
Beth Cykowski offers a fresh reading of Heidegger's discussions of animality, arguing that they point beyond received dualisms back to a more essential way of philosophising about life and the relationship to it of the human. His exploration of animality raises deep questions about the status of the human within nature.
Named One of the 50 Best Spiritual Books of 2020 by Spirituality & Practice What is materiality? Jesus practiced materiality when he healed the bodies of the sick, proclaimed Jubilee to the poor, and fed the five thousand. He practiced materiality over materialism. In Materiality as Resistance, Walter Brueggemann defines materiality as the use of the material aspects of the Christian faith, as opposed to materialism, which places possessions and physical comfort over spiritual values. In this concise volume, Brueggemann lays out how we as Christians may reengage our materiality for the common good. How does materiality inform our faith when it comes to food, money, the body, time, and place? How does it force us to act? Likewise, how is the church obligated to use its time, money, abundance of food, the care and use of our bodies, observance of Sabbath, and stewardship of our world and those with whom we share it? With a foreword from Jim Wallis, Materiality as Resistance serves as a manifesto of Walter Brueggemann's most important work and as an engaging call to action. It is suited for group or individual study.
Digital Media: Human-Technology Connection examines what it is like to be alive in today’s technologically textured world and showcases specific digital media technologies that makes this kind of world possible. So much of human experience occurs through digital media that it is time to pause and consider the process and proliferation of digital consumption and humanity’s role in it through an interdisciplinary array of sources from philosophy, media studies, film studies, media ecology and philosophy of technology. When placed in the interpretive lens of artifact, instrument, and tool, digital media can be studied in a uniquely different way, as a kind of technology that pushes the boun...
Utopia forms a major aspect of human desire, one that is as important as religion. Understanding utopia and the ways in which it can collapse into dystopia is crucial in many disciplines. Fantastic literature (including science fiction and fantasy) is the only form of literature that takes utopia/dystopia seriously. Therefore, analysis of these works provides a basis for serious experimentation in social science. In this volume, critics analyze contemporary literary thought experiments such as 1984 and We. They show how utopian experiments can easily slide into dystopia. Exploring these fictional sociocultural, political experiments gives us new ways to think about our lives and culture. While literature, history, and political science professors may find this book useful, it can also serve as a call to arms to anyone dedicated to maintaining freedom and humane living in the world today.