The Science Fiction and Philosophy Society was founded by Anand Vaidya, Manjula Menon, and Ethan Mills in 2022. Ethan Mills is the current President. You can read a recent publication about the society in Sci-Phi Journal: "The Science Fiction and Philosophy Society: An Introduction"
Anand Vaidya (1976-2024)
We are deeply saddened to report the passing of our co-founder, Anand Vaidya. Learn more about Anand and his work in this piece published in Locus Magazine by Manjula Menon: https://locusmag.com/2024/12/anand-vaidya-1976-2024/
Our Mission: To Boldly Think!
The mission of Science Fiction and Philosophy Society is to explore connections between science fiction and philosophy, to cross-pollinate new ideas, and to boldly go where no one has thought before!
Happenings and Goings On
We held our inaugural panel, "Science Fiction and Philosophy?" in April 2023 at the American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Conference in San Francisco, California.
We sponsored a panel, "The Dispossessed at 50: The Radical Philosophy of Ursula K. Le Guin" at the meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association in Portland, Oregon (March 20-23, 2024).
We were at Worldcon in Glasgow and Eurocon in Rotterdam in August 2024! At Worldcon, we participated in two panels: "The Horror Out of Space" and "Do Philosophers Dream of Electric Sheep?" At Eurocon, we coordinated the panel, "Do philosophers dream of electric sheep? - Bringing speculative philosophy to a global audience through SF"
Society President Ethan Mills attended Chattacon (Jan. 17-19, 2025 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA). He was on panels on various topics including recent film and TV adaptations of Dune.
Both Society Co-founder Manjula Menon and Society President Ethan Mills attended Worldcon in Seattle, Aug. 13-17, 2025! They were on a panel honoring the work of Anand Vaidya called "Heartbeeps: Can Robots Have Emotions?" Ethan gave a talk on the Academic Track on Anand's work called "Could Robots Have Rights?: An Intersection of Science Fiction and Philosophy." Manjula was on numerous other panels, including panels on "Artificial Honesty," South Asian speculative fiction, and many more! See the full schedule for details.
Back to the Future (Events)!
Society Co-founder Manjula Menon and Society President Ethan Mills will be on a panel, "Remembering Anand Vaidya," at the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy Annual Conference in Manipal, India, May 19-22, 2026! Manjula will be reading Anand's paper, "The (In)Significanct of Sentience," and Ethan will be presenting a paper, "Robo-Buddhas, Suffering, Moral Standing: A Conversation with Anand Vaidya."
The society is working on hosting a panel for the LA Worldcon in August 2026. Let us know if you're interested in taking part!
Want to be Assimilated?
As of now, we are an informal society (Dues? Official membership? A Jedi craves not these things!), but if you'd like to join an email mailing list or share ideas or cool stuff with us, feel free to fill out a form on our Contact Page.
Anand Vaidya (1976-2024)
We are deeply saddened to report the passing of our co-founder, Anand Vaidya. Learn more about Anand and his work in this piece published in Locus Magazine by Manjula Menon: https://locusmag.com/2024/12/anand-vaidya-1976-2024/
Our Mission: To Boldly Think!
The mission of Science Fiction and Philosophy Society is to explore connections between science fiction and philosophy, to cross-pollinate new ideas, and to boldly go where no one has thought before!
Happenings and Goings On
We held our inaugural panel, "Science Fiction and Philosophy?" in April 2023 at the American Philosophical Association Pacific Division Conference in San Francisco, California.
We sponsored a panel, "The Dispossessed at 50: The Radical Philosophy of Ursula K. Le Guin" at the meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Philosophical Association in Portland, Oregon (March 20-23, 2024).
We were at Worldcon in Glasgow and Eurocon in Rotterdam in August 2024! At Worldcon, we participated in two panels: "The Horror Out of Space" and "Do Philosophers Dream of Electric Sheep?" At Eurocon, we coordinated the panel, "Do philosophers dream of electric sheep? - Bringing speculative philosophy to a global audience through SF"
Society President Ethan Mills attended Chattacon (Jan. 17-19, 2025 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA). He was on panels on various topics including recent film and TV adaptations of Dune.
Both Society Co-founder Manjula Menon and Society President Ethan Mills attended Worldcon in Seattle, Aug. 13-17, 2025! They were on a panel honoring the work of Anand Vaidya called "Heartbeeps: Can Robots Have Emotions?" Ethan gave a talk on the Academic Track on Anand's work called "Could Robots Have Rights?: An Intersection of Science Fiction and Philosophy." Manjula was on numerous other panels, including panels on "Artificial Honesty," South Asian speculative fiction, and many more! See the full schedule for details.
Back to the Future (Events)!
Society Co-founder Manjula Menon and Society President Ethan Mills will be on a panel, "Remembering Anand Vaidya," at the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy Annual Conference in Manipal, India, May 19-22, 2026! Manjula will be reading Anand's paper, "The (In)Significanct of Sentience," and Ethan will be presenting a paper, "Robo-Buddhas, Suffering, Moral Standing: A Conversation with Anand Vaidya."
The society is working on hosting a panel for the LA Worldcon in August 2026. Let us know if you're interested in taking part!
Want to be Assimilated?
As of now, we are an informal society (Dues? Official membership? A Jedi craves not these things!), but if you'd like to join an email mailing list or share ideas or cool stuff with us, feel free to fill out a form on our Contact Page.
