HomeThe SeriesThe BooksThe EditorsThe ClassroomSubmissionsVoteFurther ReadingNews

August 16, 2010

Announcing Inception and Philosophy

We’re very pleased to announce the newest title in the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture series, Inception and Philosophy. The science fiction thriller, written and directed by Christopher Nolan, took the #1 box office spot for three weeks after its release. The complex, mind-altering plot and stunning visuals make it popular among viewers and a natural fit for And Philosophy.

Abstracts and subsequent essays should be philosophically substantial but accessible, written to engage the intelligent lay reader. Contributors of accepted essays will receive an honorarium.

Possible themes and topics might include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • “Their dream has become their reality”: Inception and Nozick’s Experience Machine
  • “How did you get here?” Can We Tell if We are Dreaming?
  • Your Very Own Token: Solving the Skeptical Problem with a Spinning Top
  • “They come to be woken up”: If Life is a Dream, Does it Matter?
  • Living in Limbo: Convenient Dreams vs. Inconvenient Reality
  • Is That Your Idea? A New Kind of Skeptical Problem
  • Self, Mind, and Free Will: Could Your Brain be an Inceptor?
  • Is the top still spinning? Does an Author’s Intent Matter?
  • “An idea is like a virus”: The Power of Ideas
  • “Take a leap of faith”: Is it Ever Acceptable to Believe without Evidence?
  • “Only a fraction of our brain’s potential”: Separating Myth from Reality
  • Penrose Steps: The Possibility of Paradox
  • Real Life Inception: The Challenge of Changing People’s Minds
  • “Your mind is the scene of the crime”: The Ethics of Inception
  • What is a Dream Made Of? The Nature of Mind
  • Is Shared Dreaming Possible? The Problem of Neural Interpretation
  • Shared Dreaming and the Problem of Other Minds
  • The Nature of Free Will: Inception in Frankfurt-style Counterexamples
  • Could Cobb be Insane? Demons, Dreamers & Madmen
  • The Nature of Time: Time Moves More Slowly, the Further Down You Go
  • Populating a Dream with Your Sub-conscious: Split Minds and Personal Identity

You can submit an abstract at the And Philosophy website.

Interested in more news about Inception and Philosophy or The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series?
You can also follow And Philosophy on Twitter.