Soul — Cyber-Spirituality and Immortality: The Thirteenth Floor, Aeon Flux, Transcendence

Abstract

In this chapter, Magerstädt distinguishes the notion of the soul in contemporary Science fiction films from common assumptions of a Cartesian mind/body dualism. She demonstrates how contemporary science fiction presents a concept of spirituality that draws both on traditional religious values and on materialism. Her discussion of Aeon Flux and Transcendence illustrates the ways in which nature merges with technology in contemporary science fiction. Magerstädt further explores the central question of what makes us human by comparing the humanity of virtual characters in The Thirteenth Floor and Transcendence. Important ethical topics such as love, death and the longing for immortality will be discussed in this context. The chapter concludes by highlighting a certain ambivalence between utopia and dystopia in contemporary science fiction films.