International Journal of Language & Linguistics

Issues of Teleportation and Personhood in Stephen King’s the Jaunt
Prof M.A. Israel A. C. Noletto, Prof Dr Sebastião Alves Teixeira Lopes, Prof Dr Margareth Torres de Alencar Costa

Abstract
This paper‟s aim is to provoke thought experiments and a speculative reading on the Science Fiction/horror short story The Jaunt (1985) written by Stephen King, regarding personhood philosophical and moral issues related to its central theme, teleportation. We focus our discussion on two main topics: (1) The philosophical and conceptual implications of teleportation of living beings and the consequent issue of personhood, that is, the so called “duplicate paradox.” (2) The reason why conscious or awake living beings cannot survive the jaunt and the repercussions thereof. Such thinkers as Derek Parfit (2016),David J. Chalmers (2016), Eric Olson (2016), among others greatly subsidise our discussion. We also produce a concise comparative analysis of concepts unearthed from the plot that find parallels in the blockbusters Inception (2010) and The Matrix (1999). The result is an extensive exegesis of the text and a broad metaphysical consideration concerning the author‟s views.

Full Text: PDF