Crime as Destiny? Philip K. Dick and the estranging World of “Minority Report”

Abstract

Philip Dick’s Minority Report is a short story nowadays mostly known because of Steven Spielberg’s movie. Coming back to the original source, we have to admit that the film does not catch the spirit of this minor masterpiece, deeply concerned with the sense of ‘freedom’ in human (in)action (if one), and what we, as human beings, are supposed to be called to. Surprisingly, Dick has thought to face these radical questions from a futuristic (?) penal system. And even if the conclusions are as daring as ambiguous, nevertheless Minority Report transmits to us some reasonable doubts about ourselves and how we really act.

Keywords: Penal System, Predictive Policing, Punishment, Free Will, Human Action.