Personhood in Science Fiction

Religious and Philosophical Considerations

Juli L. Gittinger

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9783030300616
• eBook ISBN:
  9783030300623
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Ethics & Moral Philosophy
• Index: Social Sciences

This book addresses the topic of personhood—who is a "person" or "human," and what rights or dignities does that include—as it has been addressed through the lens of science fiction. Chapters include discussions of consciousness and the soul, artificial intelligence, dehumanization and othering, and free will. Classic and modern sci-fi texts are engaged, as well as film and television. This book argues that science fiction allows us to examine the profound question of personhood through its speculative and imaginative nature, highlighting issues that are already visible in our present world.

© The Author(s) 2019

J. L. GittingerPersonhood in Science Fictionhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30062-3_1

Begin Abstract

1. Introduction

Juli L. Gittinger¹

(1)

Georgia College, Milledgeville, GA, USA

Juli L. Gittinger

Email: [email protected]

What is the most basic article of faith? This is not all that we are. The difference between you and me is, I know what that means and you don’t. I know that I’m more than this body, more than this consciousness . A part of me swims in the stream. But in truth, I’m standing on the shore. The current never takes me downstream.

—Leoben, Battlestar Galactica (2004, s1e2)

End Abstract

The question of personhood is not merely a distant speculative fantasy that we must only visit in fiction. At its most fundamental level, it is intrinsically connected with conversations about human rights; at its most existential level it is connected to philosophical (and perhaps socio-biological) questions: “What does it mean to be ‘human’?”

This is a topic for our times. Not only because we teeter upon the precipice of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and breakthroughs in genetic manipulation, but because our political landscape is dominated by questions of personhood—and the rights allotted to the designation of “human being.” Questions of personhood are raised in contemporary debates around abortion, immigration, euthanasia, animal rights, and juvenile justice. The flip side of the coin is the process of dehumanization, which is often a social or discursive process. We can look at darker chapters of history to understand that the most egregious human rights violations of our species began with campaigns to dehumanize (e.g. Jews, slaves, enemy combatants). Apparently history is not enough to remind us of these horrors; as they are explored in speculative fiction they can be revisited and analyzed critically in a remote fantasy narrative—even if it bears an eerie familiarity. For decades, science fiction has been used to critique and explore some of these transgressions against humanity and raise uncomfortable questions for its audience. The tradition continues today, although with film and television, these processes have become more visceral.

My intentions in this book are to provide a thoughtful and provocative look at questions of personhood that are academically rigorous but also accessible to a broader, general readership. As I write this volume, the field of religious studies has a sizable, yet comparatively marginalized, sub-discipline that regularly engages with popular culture. There are more than a few reasons why religion and popular culture, as a discipline, should be taken seriously. First and foremost, popular culture is at the center of what religious studies scholars do, whether we are looking at terrorism, sexuality, ethics, or interpretation. One assumes, as a scholar, that their work is somehow relevant, and that they are not simply reiterating old arguments or discussing something with no application to the field or to the world. Thus, I would argue that we all situate our work in popular culture of our time or of a time passed.

Secondly, there are many narratives in pop culture (in comics, films, television, fiction, etc.) which are extremely important not only to the present moment, but to the ongoing development of humans as a species and to our global community. Films like Star Wars can be (and have been) read as sacred mythology, comics such as Ms Marvel or X-men are important sociological commentaries, and young adult fiction in particular seems to have tapped into the dystopic class wars and fascism that are not as speculative as they once were. Science fiction (sometimes classified as speculative fiction) has long been a forum for predicting political shifts, commenting on race and class issues, and exploring religious themes. For this reason, science fiction texts (and here, I will understand film and television as “text” in addition to literature) can be read and analyzed as useful frameworks for discussing a number of salient issues.

Lastly, this genre in particular is most often situated in the future, and thus collapses the distance between history and speculation. Technology or human advancement are often features in these texts, allowing us to imagine what our world might be like while at the same time challenging moral considerations and religious ideologies with inventions that are yet on the horizon. Science fiction explores these themes in effective, productive, and provocative ways. Furthermore, these narratives are widely accessible and easily consumable through the media of television, film, and popular literature.

Defining “Science Fiction”

Defining science fiction, and locating its origins, appears to be debatable among scholars and fans alike. Science fiction—and perhaps a more appropriate genre label, speculative fiction—encompasses a wide range of thematic narratives: dystopia, utopia, artificial intelligence, technology, space travel, aliens, millenarianism, posthumanism, apocalypse, and post-apocalypse. Some would argue that to be called “science fiction,” the text should include actual “science.” Star Trek, for example, stands up to this scrutiny as a scientifically speculative future, as it incorporates technological innovations, uses physics and astronomy, and medical breakthroughs we can only dream about. On the other hand, Star Wars is a true epic in the tradition of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth—it just happens to be set in a “galaxy far, far away.”¹ Dystopic fiction like The Handmaid’s Tale (Atwood 1985) and alternate histories like The Man in the High Castle (Dick 1962) occasionally make it into these classifications of “science fiction,” which shows how flexible the genre is. For the most part, I will stick to texts that feature technology, futurism, alien worlds, or posthumanism as central themes.

As for the founders of the genre, H.G. Wells and Jules Verne are frequently pointed to being early progenitors of modern-day science fiction. Wells (1866–1946) is viewed as the father of the genre, with short stories in both American and British publications, and four Nobel Prize in Literature nominations over his lifetime. Some of his most famous works include The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The Sleeper Awakes (1910), and numerous short stories and novellas including The Time Machine (1895) which not only coined the term “time machine,” but is also understood to have popularized the notion of time travel. Broadly labeled a futurist, Wells wrote about technology and machines that were not as of yet invented, many of which eventually came to be.

Jules Verne (1828–1905) preceded Wells slightly and although not quite as successful as Wells, still contributed to the genre in very influential ways. Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Around the World in Eighty Days (1873), and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) are regarded by many to be the earliest examples of steampunk—a fantasy world with anachronistic technology and often fantastic machines. Tapping into a rising popularity of science and engineering in his time, Verne crafted descriptions of vehicles and machines that he based in technological realities.

Many scholars regard these “fathers of science fiction” to be central to its development and popularity, but true credit goes to the mother of science fiction, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (1797–1851). Although she wrote a number of short stories and essays, she is best known for her novel Frankenstein (1818), a Gothic novel about the creation of a creature, its monstrosity, its humanity, and the consequences of such experiments. It is widely thought that her work pioneered the genre of science fiction, and has been adapted, reinvented, or paid tribute to for decades.

Since then, many subgenres have evolved: hard sci-fi (fiction that emphasizes detailed and accurate science), soft sci-fi (more fantastic or unexplained technologies), cli-fi (speculative fiction addressing climate change or natural disasters), post-apocalyptic, steampunk, cyberpunk, biopunk, dystopic, futurism, Afrofuturism, and so forth. As this book addresses concepts of personhood and “humanity,” it is right that Frankenstein be marked as the starting point for such conversations. From the vengeful Golem in Jewish folklore to the artificially intelligent robot that humankind creates, many of these stories can trace a kinship to Shelley’s masterpiece.

Another crucial writer that should be highlighted is Philip K. Dick (1928–1982). In the popular sci-fi magazines of his time he regularly published short stories that were strange and unpopular with wider audiences. His break out works were The Man in the High Castle (1962), an alternate history showing America as the loser of World War II, now ruled by Imperial Japan and the Third Reich, and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (DADoES; 1968) in which androids are hunted by a bounty hunter on Earth. High Castle has now been adapted and expanded into an Amazon Prime series (2015–2019), and DADoES spawned the two Blade Runner movies (1982, 2017). But perhaps some of his most provocative work comes from those early short stories that appeared in magazines like Science Fiction Quarterly and Imagination. It is here that we see themes emerge, such as the nature of reality, ethical questions around artificial intelligence and machines, and definitions of humanity.

I will be engaging with these and with several other texts throughout this book as examples of where science fiction has highlighted or challenged our ideas of personhood, as well as the tangle of concepts (e.g. agency, mind, consciousness, soul) that inevitably arise and complicate such discussions in provocative ways. This volume draws from a wide range of popular literature, both classic and contemporary, including the works of Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov, Octavia Butler, Jack McDevitt, and Brian Herbert. I will also frame a number of discussions through some of the most relevant and influential films and television series in recent decades, notably Battlestar Galactica (2003–2009), Westworld (2016–2018), Blade Runner (1982 and 2017), Star Trek (various franchises), The Island (2005), and Her (2013).

Organization and Method

My interest in this topic draws from a long love affair with science fiction, particularly narratives that had deeper meanings and raised questions about who we are as a species, and what our futures would be like. In many of the texts I discuss, I found that humans often viewed themselves as a pinnacle of God’s creation, or as the most advanced beings in the universe. How novels and television programs challenged those assertions were interesting to me, and the question of who we (as a species) regarded as “human” or as a “person” was of particular fascination. While I found that writers of short articles and movie reviews often shared my interest in these angles—and often wrote about such questions of personhood—there was surprisingly very little scholarship on the area with particular regard to science fiction. Therefore I set out on this quest to examine the books, films, and television shows I so dearly loved and that raised such provocative questions, with the goal of thoroughly investigating the notion of personhood as it is defined, challenged, or questioned in science fiction.

About midway through my writing process, I turned again to a familiar text, Judith Butler’s boo...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• 1. Introduction
• 2. Defining Personhood in a Posthuman World
• 3. Dehumanization of the “Nonhuman” Being
• 4. Embodied and Non-bodied Selves
• 5. Ethics and AI
• 6. Artificial Consciousness and Synthetic Souls
• 7. The Alien-Other: Monsters, Mutants, and Othered Bodies
• 8. Free Will?
• 9. Concluding Thoughts
• Back Matter