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Marcus Zonis 12/3/2012 PHI 305 Term Paper Cybernetics, Human Consciousness, & Free Will in Order to Challenge Notions Tradit

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Marcus Zonis 12/3/2012 PHI 305 Term Paper Cybernetics, Human Consciousness, & Free Will in Order to Challenge Notions Tradit Marcus Zonis 12/3/2012 PHI 305 Term Paper Cybernetics, Human Consciousness, & Free Will In order to challenge notions traditionally held by the human race, I must enter the realms of extreme possibility philosophizing on points that seem more like science fiction than plausible reality. I must try and challenge normally held notions, doing any less would be an injustice to philosophy. I will not only examine thoughts from great philosophers, I shall delve further by using ideas that can be found in the manga or graphic novels. The goal is to get at the heart of what it means to have free will, consciousness, and what it means to be human, cyborg, and machine. Descartes was one of the most remembered philosophers of the early modern era, who brilliantly reflected on the nature of a person. In his work Meditations on First Philosophy, Descartes continually challenged the traditional notions that “what we are” is simply defined by our everyday experiences. Descartes challenges all notions of our bodily senses and mental thoughts concluding that a human body can be deceived and because of sensory deception the flesh may not exist. On the other hand, a human’s mind must exist. Why? By trying to disprove the existence of the mind one proves that there truly is a mental thing. Within the moment the mind thinks, it also exists. By trying to unthink itself, it is thinking, and must exist. By using Descartes’ ideas on the mind the following points can be claimed: A) it is possible for there to be mental things without physical bodies, and B) the human mind is not limited to just the human form. These are two components that will play a major role in questioning machine, man, and the importance of free will. Descartes even hypothesizes on the existences of mental creatures without physical forms. If such things could exist, is it too fantastic to imagine minds without bodies? Both Chalmers’ paper (The Extended Mind) and Anderson’s paper (Neuro-Prosthetics, the Extended Mind, and Respect for Persons with Disability) introduce and examine the extended mind thesis. The goal of their thesis is to figure out “where does the mind stop and the rest of the world begin?” (Quoted from The Extended Mind) This question and the thesis that analyzes it are critical to understanding where the line between humanity ends and where the machine begins. I strongly agree with Anderson’s ideas on the nature of neuroprosthetics. Specifically, Anderson’s idea that the mind extends beyond human form, to the extent that mechanic parts that are used by the mind are components of said mind’s body. Anderson gives us the example of an old man with Alzheimer’s. He cannot remember where anything is around town. To aide his survival he uses a notebook to write what features are on what streets. This mere pad of paper is his only means of remembering how to get where he needs to go. “Indeed, tearing sheets out of his notebook may be a greater assault on his cognitive system than removing some of his brain tissue.” (Anderson 265) The human who uses neuroprosthetics is still consciously a human, so long as they are the masters of the technology they use. What about when the neuroprosthetic ceases to be an extension of the human body/mind? When the prosthetic becomes a critical asset in defining this human as something changed? Say the human has more metallic parts than natural human parts – what are they – man, machine, or something altogether new?.
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