The Philosopher At The End Of The Universe: Philosophy Explained Through Science Fiction Films - Softcover

Mark Rowlands

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0091903882 ISBN 13: 9780091903886

Publisher: Ebury, 2005

Synopsis

The Philosopher at the End of the Universe allows anyone to understand basic philosophical concepts from the comfort of their armchair, through the plots and characters of spectacular blockbusting science-fiction movies. 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; Cultural Relativism from Lord of the Rings; and much more. As someone once said, things must be said and knowledge known, and the cast list assembled to tell us does not disappoint: Tom Cruise, Plato, Harrison Ford, Immanuel Kant, Sigourney Weaver, Friedrich Nietzsche, Keanu Reeves and Rene Descartes. From characters in the biggest films (with lots of explosions and bad language) to Ludwig Wittgenstein (no explosions and too much language in general), hear all the arguments. I think, therefore...I'll be back!

About this title

From the Back Cover

“Rowlands succeeds in his aims remarkably well. Not only is each chapter a model of philosophical exposition, conveying philosophical ideas with exemplary verve and clarity, the book also manages to connect the philosophy to the movies in a natural and convincing way.... The irreverent style combines the folksy with the rigorous, the shallow with the deep – and philosophy needs all the humor it can get.”
- "Times Literary Supplement" (U.K.)
"Rowlands has a light touch. . . . Overall, this manages to be diverting without destroying too many brain cells, which is probably what you want from a holiday read."
- "The Guardian" (U.K.)
"Hugely entertaining. . . . Rowlands knows his stuff and marries some of the tougher philosophical arguments to the more accessible conduit of popular entertainment . . . enjoyable and illuminating."
- "Waterstone's Books Quarterly" (U.K.)
"The discussions are serious, but the tone of the book is irreverent; there are laughs for both newcomers and old hands."
- www.listology.com
"Some bits made me laugh out loud. . . . He has an excellent way of explaining complex ideas and terms. After reading quite a lot of Nietzsche (in my wayward youth especially) I think that Rowlands does a better way at explaining him than the man himself!"
- www.scifimoviepage.com

About the Author

Mark Rowlands is Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy at the University of Hertfordshire. After a Bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Mark switched to Philosophy and went up to Oxford in 1986 to study for a D.Phil. A succession of publications and academic posts followed in the US, Ireland and Exeter, where Mark also used whatever spare time he could find to surf. His ambition remains to kill himself doing Philosophy, but hopefully not in the near future. He has written a number of other successful books, including Everything I Know I Learned From TV for Ebury. He has also appeared on television and radio.

Edition details

• Publisher: Ebury
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0091903882
• ISBN 13: 9780091903886
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320