The Philosophy of Science Fiction

Rezensionen / Stimmen

Through a lucid exposition of Bergson and a careful analysis of Dick's novels, [Burton] convincingly argues for their compatible views of salvation ... [His] study is innovative, elegantly written, and not only will it be of interest for scholars of cultural studies and philosophy, but also for science studies scholars. * Pulse: A History, Sociology and Philosophy of Science Journal * Thinking through the work of Philip K. Dick alongside the philosophy of Henri Bergson is no mere contrivance. By showing how each was writing at the edge of knowledge, both theirs and ours, Burton has fabulated a new thought with truly evental consequences for metafiction, ecology, and theology. * John O Maoilearca, Professor of Film and Television Studies, Kingston University, UK * In a brilliant act of superimposition, James Burton brings Henri Bergson's evolutionary mysticism to bear on the divine invasions-in fiction and in life-of S-F writer Philip K. Dick. The vision of "immanent soteriology" that emerges, in which transcendent fictions jam the engines of necessity, not only illuminates the method behind Dick's madness but reveals the crucial emancipatory role that fabulation can and does play within posthuman thought and religion. With clear thinking and graceful writing, Burton boldly indicates a "perturbation in the reality field" of contemporary materialism. * Erik Davis, author of TechGnosis: Myth, Magic and Mysticism in the Age of Information * In investigating both the prolific and controversial science fiction novelist Philip K. Dick (1928-82) and Henri Bergson (1851-1941), whom William James deemed an intellectual genius, Burton (Institute for Cultural Inquiry, Berlin) takes a bifurcated path. Examining the strange affinity between these two seemingly different thinkers, the author navigates ideas of mechanism and mysticism, immanence and transcendence, and the possibility and meaning of soteriology. Both Dick and Bergson balked at the push toward mechanization, in which destruction of the planet seemed so immanent (as it still does today). Only collaboration between a science fiction writer and a philosopher could lead, Burton argues, to a realistic outlook that sutures contradictory imperatives. Their respective approaches may be said to fuse in fictionalizing/fabulation, which is a powerful tool of mechanization, yet is also capable of implementing a device for its undoing. This reviewer's favorite chapter deals with Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968), adapted for the screen as Blade Runner in 1982 under the direction of Ridley Scott. Here the author covers provocative themes like robot theology, creative destruction, and salvation. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. * CHOICE *