Science fiction--History and criticism

Although critics have observed Philip K. Dick's references to empathy throughout his novels, short stories, and essays, no analysis has attempted to examine the role of empathy in his writings. In contrast to the element of ratiocination (or logical extrapolation) widely considered to be the hallmark of science fiction, Dick's fictions are held together by the value they primarily place not on reason, but on an empathic understanding of our actions and their effects upon the lives of other entities. Using two early short stories ("Beyond Lies the Wub" and "Roog"), two non-Earth ecologies (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Dr. Bloodmoney). I will demonstrate that Dick's works are united by an ethical imperative to understand the thoughts and emotions of others, human and nonhuman alike.

Sheri S. Tepper, using postmodern literary techniques, utilizes ancient story forms to examine our contemporary world in three science fiction novels. Classical Greek mythology in the form of a parodic drama, "Iphigenia at Ilium" is intricately woven into The Gate to Women's Country. European fairy tale characters become metaphors for a postmodern world threatened by overpopulation and the loss of magic in Beauty. An American Indian fable, featuring Coyote, provides the mythic paradigm for A Plague of Angels. Each ancient story form is re-worked into Tepper's postmodernist fiction giving a new slant to familiar stories that highlight Tepper's feminist, ecological themes: of the folly of war, the threat of overpopulation, and mankind's interconnectedness to all living creatures.