Posthumanist Representations of Consciousness, Nature, and Matter
Science Fiction in the Age of AI
- Open Access
Posthumanist Representations of Consciousness, Nature, and Matter
Science Fiction in the Age of AI
- Open Access
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Description
This open access book analyzes how contemporary novels engage with the question of what it means to be human after AI stopped being a mere fantasy and became reality in the 1990s. Considering the increasing threat to all life forms, including humans, posed by the Anthropocene, the age-old belief in the humanist notion of intellect as the highest expression of superiority has become increasingly doubtful. Especially because it has been technology, constructed with human intelligence, that has given rise to global warming and pollution. This book contends that the selected novels align with a posthumanist approach that emphasizes the centrality of an ethics of care and relationality, illustrating how the humanist notion of intelligence, which has traditionally served as a justification for anthropocentrism, is replaced in the novels with consciousness, a trait shared by all sentient beings. The analysis highlights how, through representations of artificial intelligence and the concept of mind uploading, the novels critique anthropocentrism and advocate for a relational perspective grounded in care and responsibility.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Consciousness as a Unifying Factor in Iain M. Banks' Excession
2. Posthumanist Connectivity and Care Ethics in Ian McEwan's Machines Like Me
3. Ethics and Consciousness in Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun
4. Mind and/versus Body in Jeanette Winterson's Frankissstein
Conclusion
References
Index
Product details
| Published | Jan 21 2027 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 192 |
| ISBN | 9781666973853 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Dimensions | 229 x 152 mm |
| Series | Ecocritical Theory and Practice |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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