Security vs. Liberty
“The Minority Report” details a world in which Precrime, a division of the police, utilizes three mutants called precogs who have the special ability to foresee crimes before they are committed, called precognition. Acting on these prophecies, Precrime officers, led by Commissioner John Anderton, apprehend and detain would-be-criminals. Acting in this way, the police have virtually eliminated felonies—as well as prison sentences and other forms of punishment that were never successful deterrents—but the downside…
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Fate and Free Will
In “The Minority Report,” Dick considers the ancient ideas of fate and free will within a futuristic context, presenting three precogs who see into the future, an ability called precognition. On the basis of precognitive data, Precrime officers apprehend and detain would-be criminals before they commit any crimes. While the story initially appears to invalidate free will by establishing the validity of precognition, on closer inspection it actually affirms free will through the character of…
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Trust and Paranoia
In “The Minority Report,” Dick examines trust and paranoia through his protagonist, Anderton, a Police Commissioner who thinks he is being framed for a crime. Insecure from the start, Anderton becomes paranoid after reading on a precognitive card that he will murder a stranger named Kaplan within a week. Quick to assume the worst in others, he imagines that his new assistant, Witwer, is working with the Senate to oust him as Commissioner…
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