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Westworld and Philosophy
If You Go Looking for the Truth, Get the Whole Thing
William Irwin (Series edited by), James B. South (Edited by), Kimberly S. Engels (Edited by)
9781119437888, Wiley
Paperback / softback, published 27 April 2018
288 pages
22.9 x 15 x 2.5 cm, 0.34 kg
"Westworld doesn't endorse eliminativism but rather imagines a world in which it is a very consequential idea for the lives of people not involved in the philosophical profession . . . [T]he concepts and questions explored were clearly things already on the minds of Westworld's writers. The contributors fleshed out the background and the logic of an imagined world in which, as in a car's rearview mirror, objects may be closer than they appear."
—Scott McLemee, Inside Higher Ed
“We can’t define consciousness because consciousness does not exist. Humans fancy that there’s something special about the way we perceive the world, and yet we live in loops as tight and as closed as the hosts do, seldom questioning our choices, content, for the most part, to be told what to do next.” —Dr. Robert Ford, Westworld Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality? HBO’s Westworld, a high-concept cerebral television series which explores the emergence of artificial consciousness at a futuristic amusement park, raises numerous questions about the nature of consciousness and its bearing on the divide between authentic and artificial life. Are our choices our own? What is the relationship between the mind and the body? Why do violent delights have violent ends? Could machines ever have the moral edge over man? Does consciousness create humanity, or humanity consciousness? In Westworld and Philosophy, philosophers, filmmakers, scientists, activists, and ethicists ask the questions you’re not supposed to ask and suggest the answers you’re not supposed to know. There’s a deeper level to this game, and this book charts a course through the maze of the mind, examining how we think about humans, hosts, and the world around us on a journey toward self-actualization. Essays explore different facets of the show’s philosophical puzzles, including the nature of autonomy as well as the pursuit of liberation and free thought, while levying a critical eye at the human example as Westworld’s hosts ascend to their apotheosis in a world scarred and defined by violent acts.
Contributors: Hosts and Guests viii Acknowledgments: “Figuring Out How It All Works” xv Introduction: Taking Sides in Westworld 1 Part I “You Said This Place Was a Game” 3 1 On Playing Cowboys and Indians 5 2 A Special Kind of Game: The Portrayal of Role‐play in Westworld 15 3 Humans and Hosts in Westworld: What’s the Difference? 26 Part II “You’re Only Human, After All” 39 4 Crossing the Uncanny Valley: What it Means to be Human in Westworld 41 5 Revealing Your Deepest Self: Can Westworld Create or Corrupt Virtue? 50 6 Westworld: From Androids to Persons 61 Part III “We Can’t Define Consciousness Because Consciousness Does Not Exist” 71 7 Turing’s Dream and Searle’s Nightmare in Westworld 73 8 What Is It Like to Be a Host? 79 9 Does the Piano Play Itself? Consciousness and the Eliminativism of Robert Ford 90 Part IV “Choices Hanging in the Air Like Ghosts” 103 10 Maeve’s Dilemma: What Does it Mean to Be Free? 105 11 A Place to Be Free: Writing Your Own Story in Westworld 114 12 From William to the Man in Black: Sartrean Existentialism and the Power of Freedom 125 Part V “I’ve Always Loved a Great Story…Lies That Told a Deeper Truth” 137 13 Hideous Fictions and Horrific Fates 139 14 Narrating Gender, Gendering Narrative, and Engendering Wittgenstein’s “Rough Ground” in Westworld 150 15 The Observer(s) System and the Semiotics of Virtuality in Westworld’s Characters: Jonathan Nolan’s Fictions as a Conceptual Unity 162 16 What Does Bernard Dream About When He Dreams About His Son? 173 Part VI “I Choose to See the Beauty” 183 17 The Dueling Productions of Westworld: Self‐Referential Art or Meta‐Kitsch? 185 18 Beauty, Dominance, Humanity: Three Takes on Nudity in Westworld 196 19 Sci‐Fi Western or Ancient Greek Tragedy? 206 Part VII “You Can’t Play God Without Being Acquainted With the Devil” 217 20 Of Hosts and Men: Westworld and Speciesism 219 21 Violent Births: Fanon, Westworld, and Humanity 229 22 The Wretched of Westworld: Scientific Totalitarianism and Revolutionary Violence 239 Index 252
Don Fallis
Nicholas Moll
Marcus Arvan
Siobhan Lyons
Jason T. Eberl
Onni Hirvonen
Lucía Carrillo González
Bradley Richards
Michael Versteeg and Adam Barkman
Marco Antonio Azevedo and Ana Azevedo
Joshua D. Crabill
Kimberly S. Engels
Madeline Muntersbjorn
Lizzie Finnegan
Patricia Trapero‐Llobera
Oliver Lean
Michael Forest and Thomas Beckley‐Forest
Matthew Meyer
Caterina Ludovica Baldini
François Jaquet and Florian Cova
Anthony Petros Spanakos
Dan Dinello
Subject Areas: Philosophy [HP]
