Damien Broderick

Russell Blackford

Intelligence Unbound explores the prospects, promises, and potential dangers of machine intelligence and uploaded minds in a collection of state–of–the–art essays from internationally recognized philosophers, AI researchers, science fiction authors, and theorists. Compelling and intellectually sophisticated exploration of the latest thinking on Artificial Intelligence and machine minds Features contributions from an international cast of philosophers, Artificial Intelligence researchers, science fiction authors, and more Offers current, diverse perspectives on machine intelligence and uploaded minds, emerging topics of tremendous interest Illuminates the nature and ethics of tomorrow s machine minds and of the convergence of humans and machines to consider the pros and cons of a variety of intriguing possibilities Considers classic philosophical puzzles as well as the latest topics debated by scholars Covers a wide range of viewpoints and arguments regarding the prospects of uploading and machine intelligence, including proponents and skeptics, pros and cons

The Future of Uploaded and Machine Minds

Intelligence Unbound

Intelligence Unbound explores the prospects, promises, and potential dangers of machine intelligence and uploaded minds in a collection of state-of-the-art essays from internationally recognized philosophers, AI researchers, science fiction authors, and theorists. Compelling and intellectually sophisticated exploration of the latest thinking on Artificial Intelligence and machine minds Features contributions from an international cast of philosophers, Artificial Intelligence researchers, science fiction authors, and more Offers current, diverse perspectives on machine intelligence and uploaded minds, emerging topics of tremendous interest Illuminates the nature and ethics of tomorrow’s machine minds—and of the convergence of humans and machines—to consider the pros and cons of a variety of intriguing possibilities Considers classic philosophical puzzles as well as the latest topics debated by scholars Covers a wide range of viewpoints and arguments regarding the prospects of uploading and machine intelligence, including proponents and skeptics, pros and cons

We attribute to morality an inescapable authority over human actions, but the source of this authority is mysterious. It cannot come from God, nature, or reason. Morality is best understood as a technology that aids in social cooperation, while often being rationalized as something more metaphysical.

The Mystery of Moral Authority

James Cameron

William Wisher

Narrated by John Connor along two different time lines as he and his mother, Sarah, try to stop Skynet from destroying humanity.

Dark Futures

As the genocidal war between humankind and intelligent machines reaches its epic climax, John Connor and his mother Sarah become caught in the middle of a battle that rages through time and across dimensions, with the fate of two worlds at stake. Original.

Times of Trouble

Jack Denham, grandson of moviemaker Carl Denham (who brought Kong to New York in 1933) clashes with a ruthless business magnate, Carlton Hemming, as both attempt to clone the giant ape, Kong, from blood samples discovered by a high-steel worker in 1999. Succeeding beyond their wildest dreams, it is quickly apparent the cloned ape belongs back in his native wilderness and not the wilds of New York. The final life-and-death struggle is played out on Skull Island—a lost world in the Indian ocean, full of monstrous creatures—where the original Kong was found over 70 years ago.

Kong Reborn

We live in an age of ideology, propaganda, and tribalism. Political conformity is enforced from many sides; the insidious social control that John Stuart Mill called "the tyranny of the prevailing opinion and feeling.†? Liberal or left-minded people are often more afraid of each other than of their conservative or right wing opponents. Social media and call-out-culture makes it easier to name, shame, ostracize and harass non-conformists, and destroys careers and lives. How can we oppose this, regaining freedom and our sense of ourselves as individuals? The Tyranny of Opinion identifies the problem, defines its character, and proposes strategies of resistance. Russell Blackford calls for an end to ideological purity policing and for recommitment to the foundational liberal values of individual liberty and spontaneity, free inquiry, diverse opinion, and honest debate.

Conformity and the Future of Liberalism

The Tyranny of Opinion

Udo Schüklenk

50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists presents a collection of original essays drawn from an international group of prominent voices in the fields of academia, science, literature, media and politics who offer carefully considered statements of why they are atheists. Features a truly international cast of contributors, ranging from public intellectuals such as Peter Singer, Susan Blackmore, and A.C. Grayling, novelists, such as Joe Haldeman, and heavyweight philosophers of religion, including Graham Oppy and Michael Tooley Contributions range from rigorous philosophical arguments to highly personal, even whimsical, accounts of how each of these notable thinkers have come to reject religion in their lives Likely to have broad appeal given the current public fascination with religious issues and the reception of such books as The God Delusion and The End of Faith

Why We Are Atheists

50 Voices of Disbelief

In this highly original book, Russell Blackford discusses the intersection of science fiction and humanity’s moral imagination. With the rise of science and technology in the 19th century, and our continually improving understanding of the cosmos, writers and thinkers soon began to imagine futures greatly different from the present. Science fiction was born out of the realization that future technoscientific advances could dramatically change the world. Along with the developments described in modern science fiction - space societies, conscious machines, and upgraded human bodies, to name but a few - come a new set of ethical challenges and new forms of ethics. Blackford identifies these issues and their reflection in science fiction. His fascinating book will appeal to anyone with an interest in philosophy or science fiction, or in how they interact. “This is a seasoned, balanced analysis of a major issue in our thinking about the future, seen through the lens of science fiction, a central art of our time. Everyone from humanists to technologists should study these ideas and examples. Blackford’s book is wise and savvy, and a delight to read as well.” Greg Benford, author of Timescape.

Visions, Minds, Ethics

Science Fiction and the Moral Imagination

Philosophy’s Future: The Problem of Philosophical Progress diagnoses the state of philosophy as an academic discipline and calls it to account, inviting further reflection and dialogue on its cultural value and capacity for future evolution. Offers the most up-to-date treatment of the intellectual and cultural value of contemporary philosophy from a wide range of perspectives Features contributions from distinguished philosophers such as Frank Jackson, Karen Green, Timothy Williamson, Jessica Wilson, and many others Explores the ways philosophical investigations of logic, world, mind, and moral responsibility continue to shape the empirical and theoretical sciences Considers the role of contemporary philosophy in political issues such as women’s rights, the discrimination of minorities, and public health

The Problem of Philosophical Progress

Philosophy's Future

Damien Broderick's Space/time Fiction

Hyperdreams

Sean McMullen

Van Ikin

Australia captured the imagination of European writers in the nineteenth century, and with the beginning of settlement, Australia became the setting for various "lost world" stories. Australia has since developed a rich national literature, and perhaps because of its exotic and ancient nature, the continent has inspired numerous science fiction writers. This book surveys the history of Australian science fiction from its nineteenth century origins to the close of the twentieth century. Included are discussions of Australian writers who have been substantially engaged with science fiction as a genre. The volume proceeds chronologically, with sections devoted to Australian science fiction before 1925, the rise of traditional science fiction from 1926 through 1959, the international recognition of Australian science fiction from 1960 to 1974, and the serious acclaim given to Australian science fiction writers in the last 25 years.

A History of Australian Science Fiction

Strange Constellations

The Tempting of the Witch King

Emerging biotechnologies that manipulate human genetic material have drawn a chorus of objections from politicians, pundits, and scholars. In Humanity Enhanced, Russell Blackford eschews the heated rhetoric that surrounds genetic enhancement technologies to examine them in the context of liberal thought, discussing the public policy issues they raise from legal and political perspectives. Some see the possibility of genetic choice as challenging the values of liberal democracy. Blackford argues that the challenge is not, as commonly supposed, the urgent need for a strict regulatory action. Rather, the challenge is that fear of these technologies has created an atmosphere in which liberal tolerance itself is threatened. Focusing on reproductive cloning, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis of embryos, and genetic engineering, Blackford takes on objections to enhancement technologies (raised by Jürgen Habermas and others) based on such concerns as individual autonomy and distributive justice. He argues that some enhancements would be genuinely beneficial, and that it would be justified in some circumstances even to exert pressure on parents to undertake genetic modification of embryos. Blackford argues against draconian suppression of human enhancement, although he acknowledges that some specific and limited regulation may be required in the future. More generally, he argues, liberal democracies would demonstrate liberal values by tolerating and accepting the emerging technologies of genetic choice.

Russell Blackford

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