I argue that in order to foster an interspecies ethics through watching science fiction cinema those fictions must narrate intersubjectivity in a way that does not flatten that Other into knowability. I argue in favour of a valuation of alterity and the transformative experiences that occur on contact with an alien Other in fiction, but critique those figures who undergo a complete dissolution of self. I also excavate their conceptualisations of intersubjective relations by comparing them to the relations between anthropologist and subject. I describe the visual and narrative forms these exchanges take – like speech, sign, movement and metamorphosis – and consider, by drawing on film phenomenology, how they affectively catch up the viewer. In this thesis I analyse examples of intersubjectivity in five science fiction films, two books and one TV show, between humans, and with fictional aliens. A new challenge to organization studies will be not simply to learn from the substantive concerns of literary genres such as science fiction, but to aspire after the narrative skills of their leading exponents. The paper concludes by calling for a realist mode of organizational discourse that explores the dialectical relationship between what it characterises as `solar’ and `lunar’ dimensions of human behaviour. In particular the rhetorical role of mimesis, viewed as a synthesis of rational and non-rational human motives, within Solaris is taken to inform a wide range of human conduct. These concerns are seen to resonate with contemporary issues in the field of organization studies.

Singling out his most famous novel, Solaris, for particular attention, a critical interpretation is offered that selectively highlights Lem’s epistemological and ontological preoccupations concerning scientific inquiry and the human condition.

This paper seeks to introduce the oeuvre of the Polish science fiction author Stanislaw Lem, whose work is argued to carry significance for students of organizational conduct.

Stanisław lem's solaris