DUNE AND PHILOSOPHY The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series Series editor: William Irwin A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, and a healthy helping of popular culture clears the cobwebs from Kant. Philosophy has had a public relations problem for a few centuries now. This series aims to change that, showing that phi- losophy is relevant to your life – and not just for answering the big questions like “To be or not to be?” but for answering the little questions: “To watch or not to watch South Park?” Thinking deeply about TV, movies, and music doesn’t make you a “complete idiot.” In fact it might make you a philosopher, someone who believes the unexamined life is not worth living and the unexamined cartoon is not worth watching. Already published in the series: Alien and Philosophy: I Infest, Therefore I Am The Good Place and Philosophy: Everything Is Fine! Edited by Jeffery A. Ewing and Kevin S. Decker Edited by Kimberly S. Engels Avatar and Philosophy: Learning to See The Ultimate Harry Potter and Philosophy: Hogwarts for Edited by George A. Dunn Muggles The Avengers and Philosophy: Earth’s Mightiest Thinkers Edited by Gregory Bassham Edited by Mark D. White The Hobbit and Philosophy: For When You’ve Lost Your Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul Dwarves, Your Wizard, and Your Way Edited by Mark D. White and Robert Arp Edited by Gregory Bassham and Eric Bronson Battlestar Galactica and Philosophy: Knowledge Here Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain Begins Out There Surgery Edited by Jason T. Eberl Edited by William Irwin The Big Bang Theory and Philosophy: Rock, Paper, The Ultimate South Park and Philosophy: Respect My Scissors, Aristotle, Locke Philosophah! Edited by Dean Kowalski Edited by Robert Arp and Kevin S. Decker BioShock and Philosophy: Irrational Game, Rational Book The Ultimate Star Trek and Philosophy: The Search for Edited by Luke Cuddy Socrates Edited by Jason T. Eberl and Kevin S. Decker Black Mirror and Philosophy Edited by David Kyle Johnson The Ultimate Star Wars and Philosophy: You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned Black Panther and Philosophy Edited by Jason T. Eberl and Kevin S. Decker Edited by Edwardo Pérez and Timothy Brown Westworld and Philosophy: If You Go Looking for the Doctor Strange and Philosophy: The Other Book of Truth, Get the Whole Thing Forbidden Knowledge Edited by James B. South and Kimberly S. Engels Edited by Mark D. White Dune and Philosophy Forthcoming Edited by Kevin S. Decker Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy: Read and Gain Avatar: The Last Airbender and Philosophy Advantage on All Wisdom Checks Edited by Helen De Cruz and Johan De Smedt Edited by Christopher Robichaud Mad Max and Philosophy Ender’s Game and Philosophy: The Logic Gate Is Down Edited by David Koepsell Edited by Kevin S. Decker Star Wars and Philosophy Strikes Back The Expanse and Philosophy Edited by Jason T. Eberl and Kevin S. Decker Edited by Jeffery L. Nicholas For the full list of titles in the series see Game of Thrones and Philosophy: Logic Cuts Deeper www.andphilosophy.com Than Swords Edited by Henry Jacoby DUNE AND PHILOSOPHY MINDS, MONADS, AND MUAD’DIB Edited by Kevin S. Decker This edition first published 2023 © 2023 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by law. Advice on how to obtain permission to reuse material from this title is available at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. The rights of Kevin S. Decker to be identified as the author of editorial material in this work has been asserted in accordance with law. Registered Office John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA Editorial Office 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK For details of our global editorial offices, customer services, and more information about Wiley products visit us at www.wiley.com. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats and by print- on- demand. Some content that appears in standard print versions of this book may not be available in other formats. 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While the publisher and authors have used their best efforts in preparing this work, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives, written sales materials or promotional statements for this work. The fact that an organization, website, or product is referred to in this work as a citation and/or potential source of further information does not mean that the publisher and authors endorse the information or services the organization, website, or product may provide or recommendations it may make. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a specialist where appropriate. Further, readers should be aware that websites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. Neither the publisher nor authors shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data applied for Paperback ISBN: 9781119841395 Cover Design: Wiley Cover Image: © Nataniil/Shutterstock Set in 10/12.5pt Photina by Straive, Pondicherry, India Contents Contibutors: Navigators, Mentats, Fremen, and Bene Gesserit viii Introduction: “He Who Controls the Spice Controls the Universe” xiv Kevin S. Decker A Brief Dune Series Timeline xviii Songs of Muad’Dib: Culture and Religion in Dune 1 1 Liberating Women’s Bodies: Feminist Philosophy and the Bene Gesserit of Dune 3 Kara Kennedy 2 What Do Zendaya’s Blue Eyes Really Mean? 14 Edwardo Pérez 3 The Golden Path and Multicultural Meanings of Life 24 Ethan Mills 4 Messiahs, Jihads, and God Emperors: Should Humanity Just Give Up Religion? 35 Greg Littmann 5 (Re)defining Masculinity and Femininity in Villeneuve’s Dune 46 Edwardo Pérez Arrakis Awakening: Science and Ecology in Dune 55 6 Spiritual Realm Adaptation: Arrakeen Spice, Terrestrial Psychedelics, and Technique 57 A.M. Houot 7 Thinking Like a Desert: Environmental Philosophy and Dune 67 Zach Vereb 8 Humans, Machines, and an Ethics for Technology in Dune 76 Zachary Pirtle v vi Contents The Wisdom of Muad’Dib: Mind, Memory, and Interpretation in Dune 87 9 “Thou Shalt Make a Human Mind in the Likeness of a Machine”: Imitation, Thinking Machines, and Mentats 89 Tomi Kokkonen, Ilmari Hirvonen, and Matti Mäkikangas 10 Herbert’s Gholas: Mystical Legends and Scientific Inspiration 99 Jennifer Mundale 11 Psychological Expanses of Dune: Indigenous Philosophy, Americana, and Existentialism 108 Matthew Crippen 12 Thatched Cottages at Cordeville: Hegel, Heidegger, and the Death of Art in Dune 119 Kevin S. Decker The Lens of Time: Freedom, History, and Evil in Dune 131 13 Should the Bene Gesserit Be in Charge? 133 Greg Littmann 14 Prisoners of Prophecy: Freedom and Foreknowledge in the Dune Series 144 William Peden 15 Time versus History: A Conflict Central to Herbert’s Dune 153 Aaron Irvin The Humanity of Muad’Dib: Morality and Ethics in Dune 163 16 Secher Nbiw and the Child’s Right to an Open Future 165 Kenneth R. Pike 17 The Spice of Life: Hedonism and Nozick in the Dune Universe 173 Luke Hillman 18 “Less Than a God, More Than a Man”: Is It Morally Wrong to Make a Kwisatz Haderach? 179 Alexandru Dragomir 19 That Which Does Not Kill Me Makes Me Shai- Hulud: Self- overcoming in Nietzsche, Hinduism, and Dune 189 Steve Bein Contents vii Lessons of the Great Revolt: Politics and War in Dune 199 20 The God Emperor and the Tyrant: The Political Theology of Frank Herbert’s Dune Saga 201 James R.M. Wakefield 21 Lessons from Islamic Philosophy on the Politics of Paul Atreides 211 Galipcan Altinkaya and Mehmet Kuyurtar 22 Why Settle for Hobbes’s Sovereign When You  Could Have a God Emperor? 221 R.S. Leiby 23 The Mind at War: Conflict and Cognition in Frank Herbert’s Dune 229 Sam Forsythe Index 239 Contributors Navigators, Mentats, Fremen, and Bene Gesserit Galipcan Altinkaya decided to pursue an academic career after trying his luck and failing miserably at being a professional baliset player. He is cur- rently an assistant researcher in the Ege University Department of Philosophy, writing his dissertation on Avicenna’s psychology. His ulterior motive is to learn from the philosophers how to predict the future purely for personal gain. He insists that Avicenna gave him his blessings in person in a dream after a night of heavy melange use. Steve Bein is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Dayton, where he is a specialist in Asian thought. He has written chapters for 11 different volumes on philosophy and popular culture, on topics ranging from Blade Runner to Wonder Woman. He’s also a science fiction and fan- tasy novelist, and his sci-f i short stories make the occasional appearance in Philosophy and Science Fiction courses across the US. Steve knows fear is the mind- killer, and he can recite the Litany Against Fear by heart. However, these days he thinks the Litany Against Wasting Your Whole Night Watching Netflix is just as important. Matthew Crippen has wormed his way across the world, touching down for visits in about 60 nations and holding academic positions in five, as well as doing other jobs ranging from teaching and performing music to coaching gymnastics to machete work on farms. The intercultural waters of his life – which range from living in Egypt and Korea to excavating indigenous ruins to tramping through African bush on anti- poaching patrols – has spiced his Dune chapter. It has also flavored his research, which burrows through the sands of history, cognitive science, and cross- cultural value theory informed by one another and orbiting ecological concerns. Kevin S. Decker is Professor of Philosophy at Eastern Washington University. He has edited or co-e dited more than a dozen anthology books in philosophy and popular culture and is the author of Who Is Who? The viii CoNtriButors ix Philosophy of Doctor Who. He failed the gom jabbar test on his first try, so his saga is over. Alexandru Dragomir is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Bucharest. He actually took up saber fenc- ing after reading Dune, but had to quit to pursue his dream of becoming a Mentat- philosopher. Currently, he’s doing research on the ethics of human enhancement and the problem of post-p ersonhood. This involves mostly “armchair” conceptual analysis, so he won’t get to travel the galaxy with a pain box in one hand and a gom jabbar in the other in search of superbeings. Sam Forsythe studied philosophy and war studies at King’s College London, and now works as a researcher at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt while finishing up his doctorate at Goethe University, Frankfurt. He has recently contributed chapters to the Springer Handbook of Abductive Cognition (2022), the Routledge Handbook of Disinformation and National Security (2022), and his first book, Every Day Catastrophes, will be published by Urbanomic/MIT Press in 2022. His current research interests led him into the wilderness between scientific inquiry, strategic rationality, and international politics, where he navigates using the concepts of C.S. Peirce as a philosophical para- compass. Otherwise, Sam spends his time as a good Fedaykin ought to: studying the secret Chakobsa hunting language and practicing prana- bindu grappling arts. Luke Hillman did his graduate studies at the University of Arkansas and the University of Oklahoma, despite no formal Bene Gesserit instruction. His contribution in this volume is his first Wiley Blackwell publication, but hopefully not his last. His philosophical interests include philosophy of religion, philosophy of language, and Wittgenstein. Ever since Luke bought his first copy of Dune at a garage sale in high school, he’s remained awestruck by Herbert’s expansive universe, captivated by the history of House Atreides, and lost in the smell and taste of spice melange. Ilmari Hirvonen is a doctoral student working on the philosophy of pseu- doscience at the University of Helsinki. The Orange Catholic Bible has become quite familiar to him since, in his spare time, Hirvonen has been dabbling in the philosophy of religion. His other work and interests lie within metaphilosophy, epistemic justification, the epistemology of modality, philosophy of language, history of empiricism, and the Bene Gesserit venture of creating the Kwisatz Haderach. Hirvonen also makes Filmbooks on philosophy and worldview studies for high school students.