Philosophy and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [Paperback]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy provides an excellent way of looking at some intriguing issues in philosophy, from vegetarianism and Artificial Intelligence to God, space and time. This is an entertaining yet thought provoking volume for students, philosophers and fans of The Hitchhiker's series.Preface Acknowledgements ('thanks for all the fish') Introduction Nicholas Joll Notes on Contributors PART I: ETHICS 'Eat Me': Vegetarianism and Consenting Animals; B.Saunders & E.Harding Mostly Harmless? Hitchhiker's and the Ethics of Entertainment; N.Joll PART II: THE MEANING OF LIFE Life, the Universe, and Absurdity; A.Kind The Wowbagger Case: Immortality and What Makes Life Meaningful; T.Chappell PART III: METAPHYSICS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 'I Think You Ought To Know I'm Feeling Very Depressed': Marvin and Artificial Intelligence; J.Goodenough From Deep Thought to Digital Metaphysics; B.Dainton PART IV: LOGIC, METHOD, AND SATIRE 'God . . Promptly Vanishes in a Puff of Logic'; M.Friend The Judo Principle, Philosophical Method, and the Logic of Jokes; A.Aberdein The Funniest of All Improbable Worlds Hitchhiker's as Philosophical Satire; A.Pawlak & N.Joll Glossary Bibliography (of Adams, Philosophy, and Everything) Indexes

'...very readable and mind-expanding collection...' - PD Smith, The Guardian

ANDREW ABERDEIN Associate Professor of Humanities and Communication at Florida Institute of Technology, USATIMOTHY CHAPPELL Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Ethics Centre at The Open University and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of Moral Philosophy in The University of St Andrews, UKBARRY DAINTON Professor of Philosophy, University of Liverpool, UKMICH?LE FRIEND Assistant Professor of Philosophy at George Washington University, USAJERRY GOODENOUGH Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia and an Associate Lecturer of the Open University, UKELOISE HARDING Teaching assistant in the Philosophy DepartmenlcC