July 2018 – Latter-day Saint Philosopher

Is our primary goal to become “good people”?

Moralism assumes that our primary duty in life is to become good people, which is usually taken to mean we

This entry is part 7 of 8 in the series Science Fiction or Fantasy?

The borders of science fiction (as a genre) have not always tracked the distinction we have made in this series.

This entry is part 6 of 8 in the series Science Fiction or Fantasy?

Few things highlight the distinction between science fiction and fantasy better than science fantasy. Science fantasy comes in multiple forms,

This entry is part 5 of 8 in the series Science Fiction or Fantasy?

Most viewers distinguish between science fiction and fantasy based on aesthetic alone — futuristic settings, spaceships, and high technology have

Many people think of agency as a mostly just a matter of moral autonomy; that is, because the individual self

Agency as rational deliberation treats agency as the process by which we weigh two alternatives and study out the consequences

There are two competing cultural narratives that frame the stories we find in modern entertainment. The culturally ascendant narrative is

This entry is part 4 of 8 in the series Science Fiction or Fantasy?

The central distinction explored in this series — science fiction as inhabiting a naturalistic universe, and fantasy as inhabiting a

This entry is part 3 of 8 in the series Science Fiction or Fantasy?

If science fiction is speculative fiction set in a naturalistic world, then fantasy is speculative fiction that is set in

This entry is part 2 of 8 in the series Science Fiction or Fantasy?

Our central thesis is that science fiction consists of speculative fiction set in a naturalistic world. First, let’s define our