Dune and Philosophy: Weirding Way of the MentatOpen Court, 2011 M04 12 - 288 pages Frank Herbert’s Dune is the biggest-selling science fiction story of all time; the original book and its numerous sequels have transported millions of readers into the alternate reality of the Duniverse. Dune and Philosophy raises intriguing questions about the Duniverse in ways that will be instantly meaningful to fans. Those well-known characters—Paul Atreides, Baron Harkkonen, Duncan Idaho, Stilgar, the Bene Gesserit witches—come alive again in this fearless philosophical probing of some of life’s most basic questions. Dune presents us with a vast world in which fanaticism is merciless and history is made by the interplay of ruthless conspiracies. Computers have long been outlawed, so that the abilities of human beings are developed to an almost supernatural level. The intergalactic empire controlled by a privileged aristocracy raises all the old questions of human interaction in a strange yet weirdly familiar setting. Do secret conspiracies direct the future course of human political evolution? Can manipulation of the gene pool create a godlike individual? Are strife and bloodshed essential to progress? Can we know so much about the future that we lose the power to make a difference? Does reliance on valuable resources—such as “spice,” oil, and water—place us at the mercy of those who can destroy those resources? When gholas are reconstructed from the cells of dead people and given those people’s memories, is the ghola the dead person resurrected? Can the exploitation of religion for political ends be reduced to a technique? Fans of Dune will trek through the desert of the Duniverse seeing answers to these and other questions. |
Contents
13 | |
Shifting Sand Shifting Balance | 27 |
The American Fremen | 53 |
A Universe of Bastards | 75 |
Power Mongers and Worm Riders | 91 |
Just What Do You Do with the Entire Human | 103 |
Good and Evil in David Lynchs Dune | 121 |
Wiping Finite Answers from an Infinite Universe | 149 |
Paul Atreides the Nietzschean Hero | 177 |
BROOK W R PEARSON | 190 |
Son of the Curse of the Golden Path | 207 |
221 | |
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Common terms and phrases
action Alia animal Aristotle Arrakeen Arrakis Atreides oracles Atreideses Baron Harkonnen become believe breeding program Butlerian Jihad Caladan Children of Dune consciousness Corrino created culture desert Duke Leto Duncan Idaho Dune Chronicles Dune Messiah Dune saga Emperor empire ethics final Duncan forces foreknowledge Frank Herbert Fremen genetic Gesserit ghola goal God-Emperor God’s Golden Path Guild Hayt Heretics of Dune Hobbes Honored Matres House Atreides House Harkonnen human idea Imperium kill Kwisatz Haderach Lady Jessica Leto II’s Leto’s lives Locke Locke’s look machines means melange memories Mentat moral Nietzsche Nietzsche’s one’s Paul and Leto Paul Atreides Paul Muad’Dib Paul’s personal identity Philosophy physical planet political possible futures prescience Princess Irulan prophet Raquella religion religious Reverend Mother rule sandworm Sardaukar sense Shaddam sietch Socrates Stilgar strategic Superman survival there’s thing Thufir Tleilaxu trap Ultimate universe vision Vladimir Harkonnen worm Yueh Zarathustra