Terminator and Philosophy: I'll Be Back, Therefore I Am

Terminator is one of the most popular sci-fi franchises ever created, captivating millions with its edgy depiction of the struggle of humankind for survival against its own creations. As Christian Bale steps into the role of John Connor in Terminator Salvation—the next highly anticipated movie in the Terminator franchise opening on Memorial Day—a new book exploring the franchise’s deepest conundrums hits the book shelves.

TERMINATOR AND PHILOSOPHY: I’ll Be Back, Therefore I Am (Wiley; May 2009; $17.95 / Paper; ISBN: 978-0-470-44798-7) draws on some of philosophy’s heavy hitters, such as Descartes, Kant, Karl Marx, and many more.  TERMINATOR AND PHILOSOPHY questions the morality of terminating other people for the sake of peace, whether we can really use time travel to protect our future resistance leaders in the past, and if Arnold’s famous T-101 is a real person or not.

Broken into five parts, the book combines essays written by academics from around the world exploring the movie’s most puzzling and fascinating themes, such as:

- Life After Humanity and Artificial Intelligence
- Women and Revolutionaries
- Changing What’s Already Happened
- The Ethics of Termination
- Beyond the Neural Net

In the vein of other books in the successful series, TERMINATOR AND PHILOSOPHY uses pop culture phenomena to creatively uncover our driving world views. Said series editor William Irwin in USA Today, “"We like to say the books are about smart popular culture for smart fans.” Undoubtedly, this latest book is sure to fascinate fans, critics, students, and professors alike!