Transparent Minds in Science Fiction: An Introduction to Alien, AI and Post-Human Consciousness by Paul Matthews

(OpenBook Publishers, 2023)

Reviewed by Steven French

Almost fifty years ago, the philosopher Thomas Nagel posed the question “What is it like to be a bat?” as a way of illuminating the ineluctably subjective nature of consciousness. Noting that Nagel himself acknowledged that imagination offers a way of approaching the issue (p. 8), Matthews displays an impressive array of examples throughout this introductory survey to support his core claim that,

‘…science fiction with a psycho-emotional flavour can provide new insight into both current human consciousness and also possible future states of consciousness in both ourselves and the machines we create.’ (p. 2)

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Review from BSFA Review 23 - Download your copy here.