Dune and Philosophy (E-Book) von Kevin S. Decker

Contibutors: Navigators, Mentats, Fremen, and Bene Gesserit viii

Introduction: "He Who Controls the Spice Controls the Universe" xiv
Kevin S. Decker

A BriefDune Series Timeline xviii

Songs of Muad'Dib: Culture and Religion inDune 1

1 Liberating Women's Bodies: Feminist Philosophy and the Bene Gesserit of Dune 3
Kara Kennedy

2 What Do Zendaya's Blue Eyes Really Mean? 14
Edwardo Pérez

3 The Golden Path and Multicultural Meanings of Life 24
Ethan Mills

4 Messiahs, Jihads, and God Emperors: Should Humanity Just Give Up Religion? 35
Greg Littmann

5 (Re)defining Masculinity and Femininity in Villeneuve's Dune 46
Edwardo Pérez

Arrakis Awakening: Science and Ecology inDune 55

6 Spiritual Realm Adaptation: Arrakeen Spice, Terrestrial Psychedelics, and Technique 57
A.M. Houot

7 Thinking Like a Desert: Environmental Philosophy andDune 67
Zach Vereb

8 Humans, Machines, and an Ethics for Technology inDune 76
Zachary Pirtle

The Wisdom of Muad'Dib: Mind, Memory, and Interpretation inDune 87

9 "Thou Shalt Make a Human Mind in the Likeness of a Machine": Imitation, Thinking Machines, and Mentats 89
Tomi Kokkonen, Ilmari Hirvonen, and Matti Mäkikangas

10 Herbert's Gholas: Mystical Legends and Scientific Inspiration 99
Jennifer Mundale

11 Psychological Expanses ofDune: Indigenous Philosophy, Americana, and Existentialism 108
Matthew Crippen

12 Thatched Cottages at Cordeville: Hegel, Heidegger, and the Death of Art in Dune 119
Kevin S. Decker

The Lens of Time: Freedom, History, and Evil inDune 131

13 Should the Bene Gesserit Be in Charge? 133
Greg Littmann

14 Prisoners of Prophecy: Freedom and Foreknowledge in theDune Series 144
William Peden

15 Time versus History: A Conflict Central to Herbert'sDune 153
Aaron Irvin

The Humanity of Muad'Dib: Morality and Ethics inDune 163

16 Secher Nbiw and the Child's Right to an Open Future 165
Kenneth R. Pike

17 The Spice of Life: Hedonism and Nozick in theDune Universe 173
Luke Hillman

18 "Less Than a God, More Than a Man": Is It Morally Wrong to Make a Kwisatz Haderach? 179
Alexandru Dragomir

19 That Which Does Not Kill Me Makes Me Shai-Hulud: Self-overcoming in Nietzsche, Hinduism, andDune 189
Steve Bein

Lessons of the Great Revolt: Politics and War inDune 199

20 The God Emperor and the Tyrant: The Political Theology of Frank Herbert'sDune Saga 201
James R.M. Wakefield

21 Lessons from Islamic Philosophy on the Politics of Paul Atreides 211
Galipcan Altinkaya and Mehmet Kuyurtar

22 Why Settle for Hobbes's Sovereign When You Could Have a God Emperor? 221
R.S. Leiby

23 The Mind at War: Conflict and Cognition in Frank Herbert'sDune 229
Sam Forsythe

Index 239

Explore the universe of Frank Herberts Dune in all its philosophical richness

He who controls the spice controls the universe. Frank HerbertsDunesaga is the epic story of Paul, son of Duke Leto Atreides, and heir to the massive fortune promised by the desert planet Arrakis and its vast reservoirs of a drug called spice. To control the spice, Paul and his mother Jessica, a devotee of the pseudo-religious Bene Gesserit order, must find their place in the culture of the desert-dwelling Fremen of Arrakis. Paul must contend with both the devious rival House Harkonnen and the gargantuan desert sandwormsthe source of the spice. The future of the Imperium depends upon one young man who will need to lead a new jihad to control the universe.

Dune and Philosophyrecruits 23 philosophers to sift wisdom from Frank Herberts Duniverse,including the first of an expected series of films following Paul MuadDib Atreides and his descendants, captivatingly brought to the big screen by Denis Villeneuve in 2021. Part of the New Wave of science fiction of the 60s and 70s,Duneis characterized by literary experimentation with shifting styles, differing narrative points of view, and with the psychedelic culture of the period. InDune, the long-term strategies and intricate plots of warring Great Houses are driven not just by Heighliner spacecraft and lasguns, but also by mind-expanding drugs, psychic powers, dystopian themes, race memories, and martial arts allowing control of the mind and the body. Substantial yet accessible chapters address philosophical questions including:

• Is it morally right to create a savior?
• Would interplanetary travel change human nature?
• What is the deeper meaning of desert ecologies?
• In conflict, how can you stay light years ahead of your opponents?
• Are there some drugs we would want to be addicted to?
• Does history repeat itself?

Tens of thousands of years into an intergalactic future, can humans endure or will we sacrifice what is most important in our humanity for power, glory, religion and of course, the control of the spice?Dune and Philosophysets an intellectual course through sand and stars to find out.

KEVIN S. DECKER is Professor of Philosophy at Eastern Washington University near Spokane, Washington. He is the co-editor (with Jason T. Eberl) ofThe Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy andThe Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy and editor or co-editor of eight other anthologies of popular culture and philosophy. His bookWho is Who? The Philosophy of Doctor Who was published by I.B. Tauris in 2013.