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 Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 10:11 am
There are a lot of fictional books that delve into the world of philosophy... which I think gives a book a lot more depth. Some authors in particular like to interweave deep philosophical thoughts within their story lines.
One REALLY good one is the Piers Anthony series "Incarnations of Immortality." In this series, ordinary mortals take on supernatural jobs such as: Death, War, Fates, Time, God and Devil. There are actually 7 books in the series I believe. Great stories and puts some interesting perspective on these facets of life. In the first book, Death (the grim reaper) comes to take a human's soul - the human is so scared, he pulls out a gun and manages to shoot Death in a gap in his robe. Suddenly, the human BECOMES death and it is his job to travel around the world collecting souls. The human who took over the office of Death learns to respect life more than ever before.
In another book, a guy becomes Father Time... and father time lives his life backwards. So, Father time normally takes the office when he is old and then lives his life backwards until he retires as a baby. Really puts your mind for a spin, because the first time a character meets Father Time is actually the last time Father Time sees them... and each time they meet he becomes less and less familiar with them. Puts my head in a spin.
As you can see, this is a very deep series & a very original concept. Anyone else read this book? Or do you have any other philosophical works of fiction to recommend to others? I have many more, but I won't flood the forum with them all right now.
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:41 am
You'd be suprised how many holywood movies there are based on philosophical theories. For example The Truman show & The Matrix are versions of Plato's The similie of the cave. There are heaps but my minds asleep. I'll post this anyway and edit it later.
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Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 6:54 pm
I really want to read those books now. I should find them. It would be interesting to see how these things are handled.
As for Hollywood, it's amazing how much actual philosophy is peppered into movies, and so overlooked by the public. No one can deny the philosphical alagory that was the Matrix Trilogy (well, some do, but they're dumb), but others will contain hints of true meaning and bits of enlightenment truth, that people will ignore because 'it's just a movie'.
My stance, the best philosophy is found in fiction. Only there can you create the situation you need to properly get the message across. Sure you could go through and write all of it out mechanicaly, but that's just not fun to read, and will never get the message to the general public. It's required, and so is an open mind.
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Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 8:22 pm
Both of these books are different non-christian perspectives of the war between God and Satan... but they both use many Christian references.
"To Reign in Hell Steven Brust
This is a retelling of the first battle between Satan and God. It is set in Heaven prior to Earth's creation. The book revolves around a debate and rift in the angels of heaven over whether they should extend themselves beyond the realm of heaven to create the Earth and Universe. The angels such as "Yaweh" "Michael" and some of the other angels wish to open the borders of heaven and fight chaos to create the earth and the universe. While the angels "Baal" "Bealzebub" "Mephistaphales" "Lucifer" and "Satan" doubt Yaweh's plan and realize that thousands of weaker angels will be destroyed if the flux between heaven's borders and the never-ending chaos are broken.
In the end, all of the Christian angels left heaven to create the earth... while all of the "fallen angels" remain in Heaven. So, in essence, hell is really heaven.
Memnoch the Devil Anne Rice
This is the 5th book of the Vampire Chronicles (of which "Interview with a Vampire" was the first). This book is amazing because Anne Rice tells the tale of the battle between God and Satan from a whole new perspective. Satan wants her hero "Lestat" to become the general of the armies of hell. Most of the book is Satan telling Lestat about the war between God and the Devil. To summarize it... after earth was created, all living creatures would die and their souls would wander the universe endlessly wailing with no place to go. Satan begged God to show mercy and allow the souls into heaven. At first this angered God, and then God decided that only "the worthy souls who would recognize God's existance" could enter heaven. This also did not include animals or a. Satan thought this was cruel and unfair to leave a majority of the souls to suffer for all of eternity, so he pleaded with God again. God was very angered and cast Satan out of heaven and to the earth - since he would not listen to the word of god he had to live with the life forms that he sympathized with so much. All angels who sided with Satan were cast out as well. So, Satan's battle with God is about whether all souls should be allowed to enter the peace of heaven or suffer for eternity wandering the universe.
Hmm, I haven't read that one for a while so it seems the requirements for heaven were slightly different. Because Memnoch was also trying to help lost souls learn the requirements so their souls did not have to suffer after death. But God spread rumours that Memnoch was evil and a liar so that humanity would not listen to Memnoch give away the secret of Heaven.
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Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2005 5:58 am
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley has probably been read by the majority of you, but I shall post it here anyway just because it's so thought provoking.
1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Changeling (I've forgotten the author, unfortunately) It's not overly philosophical, but a fun account of identity, change, and the beauty of impermenance. It's about a girl who, until adolescence, never doubts that she's a boy. She goes through a spectrum of identities, none of which completely describe her.
There are plenty more, but my brain doesn't function in the morning. I might edit later if anything comes.
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Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 5:57 pm
I've found that soft science fiction (Asimov's Robot and Foundation series, Bradbury, etc.) deal with philosophical issues such as what is it to be human, what separates humanity from the machines that are created by humans, what type of society is the best society, and how technology affects our lives.
Many existentialists and Ayn Rand have novels that are must-reads for philosophers.
I agree that many of the distopian novels deal with philosophical topics.
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