Science fiction and philosophy

Jason Rennie at the Sci Phi Journal - science fiction and philosophy - offers podcast archives.

Also cartoons, like the one here.

All we need now is philosophy fiction and science - or is that, like, the 11th season of Good Morning, Hell already?

Find out why there is an intelligent design controversy:

New sci fi journal focuses on sci phi

Jason Rennie of the excellent SciPhiShow writes to alert me to a new journal, Sci Phi:

Sci Phi is a term that combines the ideas of science fiction and philosophy. I first encountered the term myself in Mark Rowland’s work, “The Philosopher at the end of the Universe”, a book I would highly recommend as a starting place to anyone wishing to delve into these ideas themselves.

[ ... ]

In fact we should expect science fiction to provide an excellent vehicle for these sorts of ideas because it is able to explore, through the vehicle of advanced technology and other worldly creatures, ideas that would be difficult to communicate otherwise. Consider a film like Total Recall that confronts us with questions of personal identity and what makes you the person you are, something that would be impossible to do in the way it is done without this technology that allows memories to be erased and implanted in the way they are in the film. Who is Doug Quaid and what has become of Hauser? Perhaps this idea could be explored through a regular movie set in modern times, but not so deeply, and almost definitely without all of the action we see in a film like Total Recall.

Rennie, is quite right, of course, that science fiction is an excellent medium for discussing issues in the philosophy of science (an idea that goes back to the time of Plato, actually, and animates films from Star Trek to The Butterfly Effect, as well as Total Recall). Incidentally, one person who understands that well is Canadian science fiction great Rob Sawyer, whose Calculating God I review here. Also, a defense of multiverse theory underlies the film and book What the Bleep Do We Know?, which I review here. I will get to the others eventually, preferably after I have another book contract and can consider it “work.” So when I am vegging out watching sci fi/phi films, I am really “working” on my next book.

Sci Phi is only $7 per issue, a bargain at the price.

Audiobooks: The intelligent design controversy comes to life!

Audiophiles, go here for Jason Rennie’s excellent Darwin or Design audiobook, which you can listen to on line or buy. Rennie, of Australia’s ScPhiShow has done a marvellous job of assembling a cast of dozens of key contributors to the intelligent design controversy.

He offers such point men as P.Z. Myers, Sean Carroll, and Nick Matzke in one corner and Mike Behe, Guillermo Gonzalez, and Mike Gene in the other - and tons of your other faves - including top Canadian science fiction author Rob Sawyer.

Sal Cordova explains what ID is here. I talk about the media and ID here, predicting the past and postdicting the future with glee. (Postdicting the future is actually quite easy - it is predicting the past that causes so many problems ... if only people would realize that.)

Get the rest of the show notes here. This series is just the ticket for people who want to get up to speed on the controversy but don’t have time to read. You can listen while stapling documents or folding laundry.

Whoops! Update: John Davison asks me to point out that his new hypothesis for organic change is Chapter 22. This is a rare opportunity to hear him talk about his dissent from Darwinism.