EPISODE · Jun 16, 2025 · 20 MIN
Philip Dick, Ubik - Reversion, Obsolescence, and Spoiling - Sadler's Lectures
from Sadler's Lectures · host Lectures on classic and contemporary philosophical texts and thinkers by Gregory B. Sadler
This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th Century American science-fiction short story writer and novelist, Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik It focuses specifically on one main theme of the novel, which is the characters noticing a pattern of objects at first being spoiled or worn out, then reverting to earlier obsolete forms, eventually affecting not just individual objects or even rooms but entire settings in which they find themselves. The examples focused upon include cigarettes, coffee and cream, coins and bills, a tape-recorder, appliances, an elevator, vehicles, and even Ubik itself. This mystery gets a resolution late in the novel when we discover that they are a result of Jory's inability to maintain a consistent phatasmagoric reality for his soon-to-be victims in half-life. To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler You can get a copy of Ubik here - https://amzn.to/4k8i348
What this episode covers
This lecture discusses key ideas from the 20th Century American science-fiction short story writer and novelist, Philip K. Dick's novel Ubik It focuses specifically on one main theme of the novel, which is the characters noticing a pattern of objects at first being spoiled or worn out, then reverting to earlier obsolete forms, eventually affecting not just individual objects or even rooms but entire settings in which they find themselves. The examples focused upon include cigarettes, coffee and cream, coins and bills, a tape-recorder, appliances, an elevator, vehicles, and even Ubik itself. This mystery gets a resolution late in the novel when we discover that they are a result of Jory's inability to maintain a consistent phatasmagoric reality for his soon-to-be victims in half-life. To support my ongoing work, go to my Patreon site - www.patreon.com/sadler If you'd like to make a direct contribution, you can do so here - www.paypal.me/ReasonIO - or at BuyMeACoffee - www.buymeacoffee.com/A4quYdWoM You can find over 3000 philosophy videos in my main YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler You can get a copy of Ubik here - https://amzn.to/4k8i348
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Philip Dick, Ubik - Reversion, Obsolescence, and Spoiling - Sadler's Lectures
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