Syllabus and Course Information

Welcome! Here is the course description and syllabus, followed by course information. All bullet-pointed items that are not labelled "optional" are required for the respective day. Don't be discouraged by the number of items for each day; most items are very short readings or podcasts. Note that every day will have a corresponding lecture available on Canvas. Abbreviations are explained in the course materials section below. All items on this page without a link are available on Canvas (or are required texts, see below). This entire page is the syllabus.

Course Description

Is the Matrix an illusion? Do we have free will if the state prevents our bad actions before they happen? Are we morally permitted to criticize other cultures, and if so when? What's the meaning of life? In its engagement with these questions, science fiction is a crucible for philosophical ideas. Like philosophy, science fiction engages in thought experiment, reflection on humanity and personhood, critique of everyday assumptions, and illumination of persisting puzzlement. This course introduces students to a variety of philosophical questions and debates by way of science fiction. By the end of the course, students will understand how to interpret and engage with both philosophy and science fiction. Students will also learn the basics of argumentative writing and analysis.

Syllabus

Introductory Material

• Lecture: What is Science Fiction ... and Philosophy? (YouTube)
• Lecture: How Do You Do Philosophy? (YouTube)
• Le Guin, "Author's Note" to the Left Hand of Darkness (pdf)

Day 1: Skepticism

• Heinlein, "They" (audio dramatization) (pdf)
• Plato, the "Allegory of the Cave" from the Republic
• Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy (First and Second Meditations) (pdf)
• Stroud, "Scepticism" (Philosophy Bites podcast) (stream)

Optional: Blade Runner (1982 film), The Truman Show (1998 film)

Day 2: Reality

• The Matrix (1999 film) (Netflix)
• Nozick, "The Experience Machine" (pdf)
• Chalmers, "The Matrix as Metaphysics" (chapter 5 in SF&P)

Optional: Black Mirror, "Playtest" (season 3, episode 2) (Netflix); Total Recall (1990 film)

Day 3: Cognition and Consciousness

• Memento (2000 film) (free on Tubi)
• Clark & Chalmers (1998), "The Extended Mind" (pdf)
• Fodor (2009), "Where is My Mind?" (web page)
• Clark's very short response to Fodor, printed as a "letter" underneath Fodor's review

Optional: Chalmers & Baine, "What is the Unity of Consciousness?" (pdf); 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968 film); Ted Chiang, "Understand" in SOYL; Black Mirror, "Nosedive" (Season 3, episode 1); Clark, "Memento ’s Revenge: The Extended Mind, Extended"; Adams & Aizawa (2001), "The bounds of cognition"

Day 4: Alien Minds

• Arrival (2016 film)
• Schneider, "Alien Minds" (chapter 17 in SF&P)
• Boroditsky v. Liberman, Economist Debate on language and thought (web page)

Optional: Chiang, "Story of Your Life" (upon which Arrival is based); Cole, "The Chinese Room Argument" (SEP article)

Day 5: Personal Identity

• Moon (2009 film)
• Parfit, "Divided Minds: The Nature of Persons" (chapter 8 in SF&P)
• Kurzweil, "Who Am I? What Am I?" (chapter 9 in SF&P)
• Shields, "Personal Identity" (Philosophy Bites podcast) (stream)

Optional: Olson, "Personal Identity" (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article); Black Mirror, "USS Calister" (season 4, episode 1)

Day 6: Free Will

• Minority Report (2002 film) (Netflix)
• Michael Huemer: "Free Will and Determinism in the World of Minority Report" (chapter 10 in SF&F)
• Daniel Dennett, "I Could Not Have Done Otherwise--So What?" (pdf)

Optional: Blackmirror: Bandersnatch (Netflix special)

Day 7: Colonialism, Relativism, Cosmopolitanism

• Star Trek, "The Apple" (Season 2, Episode 5) (Netflix)
• Star Trek: Enterprise, "Dear Doctor" (season 1, episode 12)
• Nussbaum, "Judging Other Cultures"
• Prinz, "Morality is a Culturally Conditioned Response" (pdf)
• Appiah, "Cosmopolitanism" (YouTube, focus esp. on 13:00 to the end)

Optional: Westacott, "Moral Relativism" (IEP article); Moore, "Justice and Colonialism" (pdf); "The Prime Directive and Postcolonialism" (Episode 18 of Sci-Fi); Star Trek, "A Private Little War" (Season 2, Episode 19); Star Trek: Enterprise, "Cogenitor" (season 2, episode 22)

Day 8: Sex and Gender

• Butler, "Bloodchild" (online)
• Gould, X: A Fabulous Child’s Story (pdf)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation, "The Outcast" (season 5, episode 17)
• Ferguson, "Androgeny as an Ideal for Human Development" (online)
• Halwani, "Sexual Orientation, Sex, and Gender" (1000-Word Philosophy entry) (link)

Optional: Haslanger, "Gender and Race: (What) Are They? (What) Do We Want Them to Be?" (Nous, 2000) (pdf); Le Guin, Left Hand of Darkness

Day 9: Gods and Overlords

• Chiang, "Hell is the Absence of God"
• Star Trek: Next Generation, "The Measure of a Man" (season 2, episode 9)

Optional: Tooley, "The Problem of Evil" (SEP entry); Jemisin, "Valedictorian"

Day 10: The Afterlife and the Meaning of Life

• Black Mirror, "San Junipero" (season 3, episode 4)
• Twilight Zone, "Time Enough at Last" (season 1, episode 8)
• Wolf, "Meaning in Life" (Philosophy Bites podcast) (stream)
• Sheffler, "Afterlife" (Philosophy Bites podcast) (stream)
• Sheffler, "The Importance of the Afterlife. Seriously." (NYTimes)

Course Assignments, Evaluation, and Policies

Academic Integrity and Honesty

All suspicions of academic misconduct will be reported to the Academic Integrity Office according to university policy. Academic misconduct is not just blatant cheating (e.g., copying off another student during an exam), but includes copying other students' essays; copying or using old essays; forgetting to cite material you took from an outside resource; turning in work completed in total or in part by another. This is an incomplete list; if you have questions concerning academic misconduct it is your responsibility to ask me for advice. I will follow the official university policies outlined here.

Accommodations for Disabilities

Accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. See the UCSD OSD/DCC website for more information.

Attendance Policy

Though students are required to view lecture, students are not required to attend live sessions. Each of our 10 days will involve two components:

• A roughly 30-minute to 1-hour long asynchronous lecture available on Canvas
• A roughly 1.5 to 2 hour long discussion, also available afterward on Canvas

Handouts will be provided at least 30 minutes prior to lecture. The only participation component of this class are the quizzes. Attendance in classes is highly encouraged if you wish to learn the fundamentals for essay writing (and if you wish to talk about freaking awesome movies, shows, and stories).

Grade Distribution

This course shall be evaluated as follows:

• 14% Participation Quizzes
• 1% Project Proposal
• 10% Assignment 1
• 15% Assignment 2
• 20% Assignment 3
• 40% Final Project

Participation Quizzes

Participation quizzes will be due at the beginning of every class (10:59a on class days), except the first class (Day 1). Late quizzes are not accepted. Each quiz will be available after the class discussion before which the quiz is due (e.g., the quiz for Day 2 will be posted after the discussion session for Day 1). The quizzes cover the material for the class for that day (i.e., a quiz due on Day 3 covers the works assigned for Day 3). The quiz is meant to be straightforward for those who have done the assignment, and it is open-book. I will drop exactly one (1) quiz from your final participation quiz grade.

Assignments

There will be three assignments due at the beginning of class on:

• Day 3 (Assignment 1)
• Day 5 (Assignment 2)
• Day 9 (Assignment 3)

The content of these assignments will involve one or two questions that will require you to critically engage with the course materials in a particular way. Assignments are designed to apply techniques that we learn in class, so I highly recommend attending lecture. Use standard formatting and citation procedures (I don't care which one -- just be consistent). You should include a "works cited" page in accordance with MLA, APA, or the style of your choosing. Double-spaced. There is a late penalty of one letter grade per day late, unless you submit an excuse from the Dean or a doctor.

Students may request a regrade from the instructor after consulting the TA for her rationale regarding grading. Regrades are subject to lower the grade as well as increase it.

Final Project

The final project will take the form of a fan fiction piece accompanied by a philosophical analysis of a key philosophical question that arises from the fan fiction composed by the student. It is due on July 31 at 12pm. It should be between 2000 and 2500 words total. It will have three parts:

• Fan fiction (500-750 words): choose one of the assigned science fiction works from the course. Briefly describe the scenario derived from the work. Then, make a philosophically interesting alteration to the work. For instance, perhaps you are writing about Moon. You might introduce a condition that alters our understanding of whether Sam Bell survives his accident (i.e., whether the Sam Bell before the accident and the Sam Bell after the accident are the same person). Perhaps some of the memories are corrupted in a specific way. Be precise! What exactly is happening differently in the scenario?
• Philosophical question (1-2 sentences): state a question that arises naturally from the fan fiction that you have composed. For instance, you might simply ask: "Given the fact that XYZ happened after his accident, is Sam Bell really the same person after the accident that he was before?"
• Analysis and argument (1500 words): respond directly to the question. Provide a clear thesis statement at the beginning of your essay that answers the question and briefly states the reason for your answer. In your analysis, you are required to engage with the course material in a substantive way. Moreover, you should respond to one or two objections to your analysis (i.e., what might other people say in response to your fan fiction that is inconsistent with your analysis?). Your objection might also incorporate course readings.

Prior to the project, a project proposal is due on Day 8 (July 22). The proposal simply states in three sentences: (a) What your fan fiction idea is, (b) what your proposed question is, and (c) what you intend to argue (i.e., your thesis statement). I will provide brief feedback, and either approve it or ask for a resubmission. It is graded pass/fail, all-or-nothing. The proposal should be emailed to me (not the TA), and you may simply type it in the body text of the email.

Students may request a regrade from the instructor after consulting the TA for her rationale regarding grading. Regrades are subject to lower the grade as well as increase it. There is a late penalty of one letter grade per day late, unless you submit an excuse from the Dean or a doctor.

Course Materials, Resources, and Acknowledgements

Required Materials

• Ted Chiang, Stories of Your Life and Others (2010)
• Susan Schneider (ed.), Science Fiction and Philosophy (SF&P) (2016, 2nd ed.; available on Canvas through UCSD)
• (Recommended:) A Netflix subscription
• Access to Kanopy, a free streaming service available through UCSD
• A VPN set-up for accessing Kanopy (instructions here). I highly recommend downloading the AnyConnect client. Note that you must have your VPN active when streaming from Kanopy.

Resources

Two very helpful companion "The Great Courses" lecture series are available on Kanopy:

• David Kyle Johnson, Sci-Phi: Science Fiction as Philosophy
• Gary K. Wolfe, How Great Science Fiction Works

Many of the modules of my course are inspired by ideas found in Johnson's series.

Those seeking help with philosophical writing should review the resources listed on the "teaching" page of my website. And come to office hours!

Acknowledgements

This course is unlike other philosophy courses because it is not immediately apparent from the title what the philosophical topic or even approach would be to science fiction. I relied on many other philosophers in designing this course, including:

• Lindsey Schwartz, who forwarded me an extremely helpful syllabus that informs much of my course

• Amy Kind, whose syllabus on science fiction and philosophy is available online