Sci-Phi

Sci-Phi demonstrates how anyone can grasp the basic concepts of philosophy while still holding a bucket of popcorn. Mark Rowlands makes philosophy utterly relevant to our everyday lives and reveals its most potent messages using nothing more than a little humor and the plotlines of some of the most spectacular, expensive, high-octane films on the planet.

Learn about: the nature of reality from The Matrix, good and evil from Star Wars, morality from Aliens, personal identity from Total Recall, the mind-body dilemma from Terminator, free will from Minority Report, death and the meaning of life from Blade Runner, and much more.

Rowlands anchors his discussions in everyday terms and relates them in a manner easy to identify with. Interspersed with a ready joke or two, he wonderfully explains why those SciFi movies we love so much are much deeper than they appear to be on the surface. Mark Rowlands's entertaining and stimulating guide is perfect for anyone searching for knowledge of the world around us.

Praise

"Rowland's tone is casual and colloquial, sometimes approaching the sort of voice you'd hear at a college-dorm bull session . . . a lot more fun—and often more memorable—then Philo 101."—Sci Fi Magazine

"[Rowlands] touches on a great many topics in philosophy (he can mention such disparate people as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Immanuel Kant in the same sentence!). I suspect freshman philosophy students would find this book a very appealing substitute for or supplement to their present dry texts, and indeed I plan to pass this one on to the philosophy prof at my college."—Analog Science Fiction and Fact

About the Author(s)

Mark Rowlands

Mark Rowlands received a Ph.D. in philosophy from Oxford and then went to work in the United States for seven years teaching philosophy. Victim of too many parties, he decided to move to Ireland to do nothing except write philosophy and surf. He is currently Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire, and is the author of seven previous philosophy books including The Body in Mind, The Nature of Consciousness, and Animals Like Us.