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In-depth interview with philosopher Mark Rowlands

By Jessica Schneider Aug 20, 2008, 5:35 GMT

Sci-Phi demonstrates how anyone can grasp the basic concepts of philosophy while still holding a bucket of popcorn. Mark Rowlands makes philosophy utterly relevant to our everyday lives and reveals its most potent messages using nothing more than a little humor and the plotlines of some of the most spectacular, expensive, high-octane films on the planet. Learn about: The Nature of Reality from The Matrix, Good and Evil from Star ...more

Mark Rowlands, who is the author of titles such as Sci-Phi: Philosophy from Socrates to Schwarzenegger, Everything I Know I Learned from TV: Philosophy for the Unrepentant Couch Potato, and Body Language: Representation in Action, now has an in-depth interview online.

Some of the points he argues are:

"The mind is not entirely in the head: mental processes go on in the world around us as much as inside our brains. 
 

Consciousness – what it is like to have or undergo an experience – is real, but nowhere at all.

Animals have moral rights (at least, they do if humans do)."

The product description of Sci-Phi notes:

“Sci-Phi demonstrates how anyone can grasp the basic concepts of philosophy while still holding a bucket of popcorn. Mark Rowlands makes philosophy utterly relevant to our everyday lives and reveals its most potent messages using nothing more than a little humor and the plotlines of some of the most spectacular, expensive, high-octane films on the planet.

Learn about: The Nature of Reality from The Matrix, Good and Evil from Star Wars, Morality from Aliens, Personal Identity from Total Recall, The Mind-Body dilemma from Terminator, Free Will from Minority Report, Death and the Meaning of Life from Blade Runner, and much more. A search for knowledge about ourselves and the world around us with a star-studded cast that includes: Tom Cruise, Plato, Harrison Ford, Immanuel Kant, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigourney Weaver, Rene? Descartes, and Keanu Reeves.

Rowlands anchors his discussions in easily understood everyday terms and relates them in a manner easy to identify with. Interspersed with a ready joke or two, he wonderfully explains why those SciFi movies we love so much are much deeper than they appear to be on the surface. Mark Rowlands's entertaining and stimulating guide is perfect for anyone searching for knowledge of the world around us.

If Keanu can understand Descartes surely everyone can.”

I encourage you to visit the interview and enjoy this insightful, entertaining read.