Science Fiction, Ethics and the Human Condition

Science Fiction, Ethics and the Human Condition

Peter Nicolai Halvorsen Editors Science Fiction, Ethics and the Human Condition

Editors Department of Chemistry and Biology, Aalborg University Copenhagen Center for Bioscience and Techno-Anthropology Copenhagen, Denmark Peter Nicolai Halvorsen University of Copenhagen Copenhagen, Denmark School of Art, Media and American Studies University of East Anglia Norwich, UK ISBN 978-3-319-56575-0 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-56577-4 ISBN 978-3-319-56577-4 (ebook) Library of Congress Control Number: 2017942782 Springer International Publishing AG 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Contents 1 Introduction: Science Fiction at a Crossroad Between Ethics and Imagination... 1, Peter Nicolai Halvorsen, and Part I The Science, Technology and Science Fiction 2 The Perfect Organism: The Intruder of the Alien Films as a Bio-fictional Construct... 9 3 Science Fiction at the Far Side of Technology: Vernor Vinge s Singularity Thesis Versus the Limits of AI-Research... 21 Mikkel Willum Johansen 4 A Greenhouse on Mars... 41 Peter Westermann 5 Fascinating! Popular Science Communication and Literary Science Fiction: The Shared Features of Awe and Fascination and Their Significance to Ideas of Science Fictions as Vehicles for Critical Debate About Scientific Enterprises and Their Ethical Implications... 59 Gitte Meyer Part II Identity and the Post-Human Condition 6 Our Serial (and Parallel) Selves: Identity in the Age of the Transhuman... 85 Stig W. Jørgensen 7 Commodified Life: Post-Humanism, Cloning and Gender in Orphan Black... 95 Sherryl Vint v

vi Contents 8 Religion in a World of Androids and Aliens: Life and Death in Ridley Scott s Blade Runner and Prometheus... 115 Peter Nicolai Halvorsen 9 I Am Omega Man: Religious Repositioning of the Secular Apocalypse Film in I Am Legend... 137 Tony Degouveia Part III The Politics and Ethics of Science Fiction 10 From Isolationism to Globalism: An Overview of Politics and Ethics in the Hollywood Science Fiction Film... 159 11 Reinventing Utopia: Politics and Ethics of Choice in the Works of Kim Stanley Robinson... 181 Niels Dalgaard 12 The Final Frontier: Survival Ethics in Extreme Living Conditions as Portrayed in Tom Godwin s The Cold Equations and Ridley Scott s Alien... 195 13 The Politics of Post-Apocalypse: Ideologies on Trial in John Wyndham s The Day of the Triffids... 207 Jerry Määttä 14 On Ustopias and Finding Courage in a Hopeless Situation... 227 Maud M.L. Eriksen and Mickey Gjerris