Speculative fiction ought to be a wonderful way to think about philosophical questions. Fiction about aliens should help us to understand what makes us human; writing about the universe shows our place in it. In all these ways science fiction ought to illuminate the questions we discuss here.

Science fiction can be powerfully atheistic, as in the work of Ken MacLeod. It can illuminate a faith in progress across geological time, as in Olaf Stapledon; it can write about religion, as Ursula Le Guin does often. Sometimes, as in James Blish, Philip Pullman, or CS Lewis, it can attack specifically Christian questions about atonement and sinfulness.

So how does it help us think about our place and purpose in the universe?

Monday's response

Roz Kaveney: Science fiction probes at religion

Thursday's response

Ken MacLeod: Science fiction opens up the universe

Tuesday's response

Liz Williams: Science fiction reflects the extremes of human belief