Philosophy and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Preface Acknowledgements ('thanks for all the fish') Introduction Nicholas Joll Notes on Contributors PART I: ETHICS 'Eat Me': Vegetarianism and Consenting Animals; B.Saunders & E.Harding Mostly Harmless? Hitchhiker's and the Ethics of Entertainment; N.Joll PART II: THE MEANING OF LIFE Life, the Universe, and Absurdity; A.Kind The Wowbagger Case: Immortality and What Makes Life Meaningful; T.Chappell PART III: METAPHYSICS AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE 'I Think You Ought To Know I'm Feeling Very Depressed': Marvin and Artificial Intelligence; J.Goodenough From Deep Thought to Digital Metaphysics; B.Dainton PART IV: LOGIC, METHOD, AND SATIRE 'God . . Promptly Vanishes in a Puff of Logic'; M.Friend The Judo Principle, Philosophical Method, and the Logic of Jokes; A.Aberdein The Funniest of All Improbable Worlds Hitchhiker's as Philosophical Satire; A.Pawlak & N.Joll Glossary Bibliography (of Adams, Philosophy, and Everything) Indexes