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<p>Contibutors: Navigators, Mentats, Fremen, and Bene Gesserit viii</p> <p>Introduction: "He Who Controls the Spice Controls the Universe" xiv<br /><i>Kevin S. Decker</i></p> <p>A Brief <i>Dune</i> Series Timeline xviii</p> <p><b>Songs of Muad'Dib: Culture and Religion in <i>Dune</i> 1</b></p> <p>1 Liberating Women's Bodies: Feminist Philosophy and the Bene Gesserit of Dune 3<br /><i>Kara Kennedy</i></p> <p>2 What Do Zendaya's Blue Eyes Really Mean? 14<br /><i>Edwardo Pérez</i></p> <p>3 The Golden Path and Multicultural Meanings of Life 24<br /><i>Ethan Mills</i></p> <p>4 Messiahs, Jihads, and God Emperors: Should Humanity Just Give Up Religion? 35<br /><i>Greg Littmann</i></p> <p>5 (Re)defining Masculinity and Femininity in Villeneuve's Dune 46<br /><i>Edwardo Pérez</i></p> <p><b>Arrakis Awakening: Science and Ecology in <i>Dune</i> 55</b></p> <p>6 Spiritual Realm Adaptation: Arrakeen Spice, Terrestrial Psychedelics, and Technique 57<br /><i>A.M. Houot</i></p> <p>7 Thinking Like a Desert: Environmental Philosophy and <i>Dune</i> 67<br /><i>Zach Vereb</i></p> <p>8 Humans, Machines, and an Ethics for Technology in <i>Dune</i> 76<br /><i>Zachary Pirtle</i></p> <p><b>The Wisdom of Muad'Dib: Mind, Memory, and Interpretation in <i>Dune</i> 87</b></p> <p>9 "Thou Shalt Make a Human Mind in the Likeness of a Machine": Imitation, Thinking Machines, and Mentats 89<br /><i>Tomi Kokkonen, Ilmari Hirvonen, and Matti Mäkikangas</i></p> <p>10 Herbert's Gholas: Mystical Legends and Scientific Inspiration 99<br /><i>Jennifer Mundale</i></p> <p>11 Psychological Expanses of <i>Dune</i>: Indigenous Philosophy, Americana, and Existentialism 108<br /><i>Matthew Crippen</i></p> <p>12 Thatched Cottages at Cordeville: Hegel, Heidegger, and the Death of Art in Dune 119<br /><i>Kevin S. Decker</i></p> <p><b>The Lens of Time: Freedom, History, and Evil in <i>Dune</i> 131</b></p> <p>13 Should the Bene Gesserit Be in Charge? 133<br /><i>Greg Littmann</i></p> <p>14 Prisoners of Prophecy: Freedom and Foreknowledge in the <i>Dune</i> Series 144<br /><i>William Peden</i></p> <p>15 Time versus History: A Conflict Central to Herbert's <i>Dune</i> 153<br /><i>Aaron Irvin</i></p> <p><b>The Humanity of Muad'Dib: Morality and Ethics in <i>Dune</i> 163</b></p> <p>16 Secher Nbiw and the Child's Right to an Open Future 165<br /><i>Kenneth R. Pike</i></p> <p>17 The Spice of Life: Hedonism and Nozick in the <i>Dune</i> Universe 173<br /><i>Luke Hillman</i></p> <p>18 "Less Than a God, More Than a Man": Is It Morally Wrong to Make a Kwisatz Haderach? 179<br /><i>Alexandru Dragomir</i></p> <p>19 That Which Does Not Kill Me Makes Me Shai-Hulud: Self-overcoming in Nietzsche, Hinduism, and <i>Dune</i> 189<br /><i>Steve Bein</i></p> <p><b>Lessons of the Great Revolt: Politics and War in <i>Dune</i> 199</b></p> <p>20 The God Emperor and the Tyrant: The Political Theology of Frank Herbert's <i>Dune</i> Saga 201<br /><i>James R.M. Wakefield</i></p> <p>21 Lessons from Islamic Philosophy on the Politics of Paul Atreides 211<br /><i>Galipcan Altinkaya and Mehmet Kuyurtar</i></p> <p>22 Why Settle for Hobbes's Sovereign When You Could Have a God Emperor? 221<br /><i>R.S. Leiby</i></p> <p>23 The Mind at War: Conflict and Cognition in Frank Herbert's <i>Dune</i> 229<br /><i>Sam Forsythe</i></p> <p>Index 239</p>

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

<p><b>Is it morally right to create a savior? </p> <p>Would interplanetary travel change human nature? <p>What is the deeper meaning of desert ecologies? <p>Are there some drugs we would want to be addicted to? <p>Does history repeat itself? </b> <p>“He who controls the spice controls the universe.” In Frank Herbert’s <i>Dune</i> saga, the future of the Imperium depends on one young man, Paul Atreides, son of Duke Leto and heir to the massive fortune promised by the desert planet Arrakis and its vast reservoirs of the drug “melange.” With his mother Jessica, a devotee of the pseudo-religious Bene Gesserit order, Paul must find his place in the culture of the desert-dwelling Fremen while contending with both the devious rival House Harkonnen and the gargantuan desert sandworms—the source of the spice. <p><i>Dune and Philosophy</i> recruits 23 philosophers to mine not spice, but wisdom from Frank Herbert’s <i>Dune</i>. Part of the New Wave of science fiction of the 60s and 70s, <i>Dune</i> is characterized by literary experimentation with shifting styles, differing narrative points of view, and the “psychedelic” culture of the period. Across the “Duniverse,” including the first in an expected series of films brought to the big screen by Denis Villeneuve in 2021, the long-term strategies and intricate plots of warring Great Houses are driven not just by Heighliner spacecraft, but also by mind-expanding drugs, psychic powers, dystopian themes, race memories, and martial arts allowing control of the mind and the body. <p>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? <i>Dune and Philosophy</i> sets an intellectual course through sand and stars to find out. <p>To learn more about the Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series, visit <b>www.andphilosophy.com</b>

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