WeCanReason Webinar - Ethics without Deities: Humanism in ... with Alan Koslow
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WeCanReason Webinar - Ethics without Deities: Humanism in Science Fiction Film and Media with Alan Koslow
Science fiction provides a unique space to explore ethical questions in worlds where traditional religious frameworks are absent, uncertain, or transformed. This lecture examines how science fiction across film, television, radio, and modern media constructs systems of meaning grounded in human responsibility, choice, and consequence rather than divine authority.
Beginning with early works such as A Trip to the Moon and Metropolis, and moving through radio dramas like The War of the Worlds, the lecture traces how science fiction evolved into a mass medium capable of presenting moral dilemmas to wide audiences. Mid-century film and television, including The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Twilight Zone, deepen these questions, while later works such as Blade Runner and The Matrix explore identity, autonomy, and the nature of humanity itself.
The lecture also addresses the presence of religion and godlike forces in science fiction, using examples such as Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. Even when such elements appear, they rarely resolve ethical dilemmas. Instead, human beings remain responsible for interpretation, decision-making, and consequences.
Across its history, science fiction consistently returns to a central idea: even in a universe filled with advanced technology or apparent divinity, morality is not given—it is created.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Alan Koslow is a retired vascular surgeon, humanitarian responder, medical researcher, and public policy advocate with more than five decades of experience improving lives in the United States and around the world. His work spans disaster medicine deployments, health legislation, international medical education, and community leadership. He has served on the front lines in crises from Haiti to South Sudan, helped shape major public health laws in Iowa, conducted early stem-cell research, and interviewed national leaders on science, governance, and public policy
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