Philosophy, Fantasy, & Science Fiction: An Introduction | Worlds of Speculative Fiction (lecture 1)

This is the first session in a new series of monthly lectures and discussions, spanning the year 2016 and hosted by the Brookfield Public Library. This year the series focuses on philosophical themes in the works and world of selected classic and contemporary fantasy and science fiction authors.

We begin the series by examining the genres of science fiction and fantasy. We then discuss central fields in philosophy and how they can illuminate key themes in literature. After that, we turn to main elements of narrative, and focus in on the worlds that successful narrative works create. I also provide an overview of the series as a whole.

4:55 - motivations for creating this series
8:00 - the genres of science fiction and fantasy
23:12 - introducing philosophy to the conversation
39:21 - elements of narrative, the issue of world-building, and philosophical themes
59:56 - Q&A and wrapping up

Authors we have covered in the series so far are J.R..R. Tolkein, A.E. Van Vogt, C.S. Lewis, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Roger Zelazny, Ursula K. Leguin, Michael Moorcock, Philip K. Dick, Mervyn Peake, George R.R. Martin, Philip Jose Farmer, Madeline L'Engle, Douglas Adams, Anne McCaffrey, Orson Scott Card, Iain Banks, H.P. Lovecraft, William Gibson, C.L. Moore, Octavia Butler, Jorge Luis Borges, Fritz Leiber, Robert Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, Andre Norton, Arthur Clarke, Robert Howard, Gene Wolfe, C. J. Cherryh, Jack Vance, Edgar Allan Poe, G.K. Chesterton, Lewis Carroll, Tanith Lee, Gordon Dickson, August Derleth, Karl Edward Wagner, Aldous Huxley, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, China Mieville, Walter Miller, Cordwainer Smith, Liu Cixin, R. Scott Bakker, Stanislaw Lem, Neal Stephenson's, Philip Pullman, Olaf Stapledon, Veronica Roth, J.G. Ballard, Dan Simmons, Andrzej Sapkowski, Kim Stanley Robinson, N. K. Jemisin, Terry Pratchett, and Steven Erickson

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