Science Fiction and Political Philosophy

Steven Michels is associate provost and professor of political science at Sacred Heart University.Timothy McCranor is doctoral student in the Political Science Department at Boston College.

• Chapter 1: Fiction and the Science of Self-Reflection: Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis and the Idols of the MindChapter 2: Utopianism and Realism in Shakespeare’s The TempestChapter 3: Frankenstein and the Ugliness of Enlightenment,Chapter 4: Technology and Anxiety in Melville’s Lightning-Rod ManChapter 5: The Head, the Hands, and the Heart: Political Rationalism in Fritz Lang’s MetropolisChapter 6: Technology and Human Nature in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New WorldChapter 7: An Exhortation to Secure Humanity against the Buggers: Ender’s GameChapter 8: Seeing and Being Seen in the Kingdom of Ends: On Immanuel Kant, Adam Smith, and Star Trek: The Next GenerationChapter 9: Knowledge of Death in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me GoChapter 10: Founding a Posthuman Political Order in M. R. Carey's The Girl with All the GiftsChapter 11: Bacon, Transhumanism, and Reflections from the Black Mirror

“Given that nothing is poised to help us explore the pressing political and philosophical issues of our day like science fiction, Science Fiction and Political Philosophy is a much-needed book. It covers nearly everything you want it to cover—dating back to the origins of science fiction (like Bacon’s New Atlantis and Shelly’s Frankenstein) to modern fan favorites of film and television (like Star Trek TNG and Black Mirror)—and treats science fiction with the philosophical respect it deserves. I hope and believe it will inspire similar works.”