‘We can’t define consciousness because consciousness does not exist. Humans fancy that there’s something special about the way we perceive the world, and yet we live in loops as tight and as closed as the hosts do, seldom questioning our choices, content, for the most part, to be told what to do next.’
–Dr. Robert Ford, Westworld
Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? HBO’s Westworld, a high-concept cerebral television series which explores the emergence of artificial consciousness at a futuristic amusement park, raises numerous questions about the nature of consciousness and its bearing on the divide between authentic and artificial life. Are our choices our own? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? Why do violent delights have violent ends? Could machines ever have the moral edge over man? Does consciousness create humanity, or humanity consciousness?
In Westworld and Philosophy, philosophers, filmmakers, scientists, activists, and ethicists ask the questions you’re not supposed to ask and suggest the answers you’re not supposed to know. There’s a deeper level to this game, and this book charts a course through the maze of the mind, examining how we think about humans, hosts, and the world around us on a journey toward self-actualization. Essays explore different facets of the show’s philosophical puzzles, including the nature of autonomy as well as the pursuit of liberation and free thought, while levying a critical eye at the human example as Westworld’s hosts ascend to their apotheosis in a world scarred and defined by violent acts.
The perfect companion for Westworld fans who want to exit the park and bend their minds around the philosophy behind the scenes, Westworld and Philosophy will enrich the experience of the show for its viewers and shed new light on its enigmatic twists and turns.
Tabela de Conteúdo
Contributors: Hosts and Guests viii
Acknowledgments: ‘Figuring Out How It All Works’ xv
Introduction: Taking Sides in Westworld 1
Part I ‘You Said This Place Was a Game’ 3
1 On Playing Cowboys and Indians 5
Don Fallis
2 A Special Kind of Game: The Portrayal of Role-play in Westworld 15
Nicholas Moll
3 Humans and Hosts in Westworld: What’s the Difference? 26
Marcus Arvan
Part II ‘You’re Only Human, After All’ 39
4 Crossing the Uncanny Valley: What it Means to be Human in Westworld 41
Siobhan Lyons
5 Revealing Your Deepest Self: Can Westworld Create or Corrupt Virtue? 50
Jason T. Eberl
6 Westworld: From Androids to Persons 61
Onni Hirvonen
Part III ‘We Can’t Define Consciousness Because Consciousness Does Not Exist’ 71
7 Turing’s Dream and Searle’s Nightmare in Westworld 73
Lucía Carrillo González
8 What Is It Like to Be a Host? 79
Bradley Richards
9 Does the Piano Play Itself? Consciousness and the Eliminativism of Robert Ford 90
Michael Versteeg and Adam Barkman
Part IV ‘Choices Hanging in the Air Like Ghosts’ 103
10 Maeve’s Dilemma: What Does it Mean to Be Free? 105
Marco Antonio Azevedo and Ana Azevedo
11 A Place to Be Free: Writing Your Own Story in Westworld 114
Joshua D. Crabill
12 From William to the Man in Black: Sartrean Existentialism and the Power of Freedom 125
Kimberly S. Engels
Part V ‘I’ve Always Loved a Great Story…Lies That Told a Deeper Truth’ 137
13 Hideous Fictions and Horrific Fates 139
Madeline Muntersbjorn
14 Narrating Gender, Gendering Narrative, and Engendering Wittgenstein’s ‘Rough Ground’ in Westworld 150
Lizzie Finnegan
15 The Observer(s) System and the Semiotics of Virtuality in Westworld’s Characters: Jonathan Nolan’s Fictions as a Conceptual Unity 162
Patricia Trapero-Llobera
16 What Does Bernard Dream About When He Dreams About His Son? 173
Oliver Lean
Part VI ‘I Choose to See the Beauty’ 183
17 The Dueling Productions of Westworld: Self-Referential Art or Meta-Kitsch? 185
Michael Forest and Thomas Beckley-Forest
18 Beauty, Dominance, Humanity: Three Takes on Nudity in Westworld 196
Matthew Meyer
19 Sci-Fi Western or Ancient Greek Tragedy? 206
Caterina Ludovica Baldini
Part VII ‘You Can’t Play God Without Being Acquainted With the Devil’ 217
20 Of Hosts and Men: Westworld and Speciesism 219
François Jaquet and Florian Cova
21 Violent Births: Fanon, Westworld, and Humanity 229
Anthony Petros Spanakos
22 The Wretched of Westworld: Scientific Totalitarianism and Revolutionary Violence 239
Dan Dinello
Index 252
Sobre o autor
JAMES B. SOUTH is Professor of Philosophy and Associate Dean for Faculty in the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences at Marquette University.
KIMBERLY S. ENGELS is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Molloy College in Rockville Centre, New York where she teaches courses in ethics, biomedical ethics, and contemporary philosophy.
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