The Mind and the Machine: What It Means to Be Human and Why It Matters
Matthew Dickerson
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Description for The Mind and the Machine: What It Means to Be Human and Why It Matters
Paperback. Are humans just complex biochemical machines, mere physical parts of a causally closed materialist universe? Are we approaching the so-called Singularity when human consciousness can (and will) be downloaded into computers? Or is there more to the human person something that might be known as soul or spirit? As this book makes clear, the .." Num Pages: 240 pages. BIC Classification: HPJ; HPM; HRAB. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 229 x 153 x 13. .
Are humans just complex biochemical machines, mere physical parts of a causally closed materialist universe? Are we approaching the so-called 'Singularity', when human consciousness can (and will) be downloaded into computers? Or is there more to the human person - something that might be known as 'soul' or 'spirit'? As this book makes clear, the answers to these questions have profound implications to topics such as heroism, creativity, ecology, and the possibility of reason and science. In exploring this important topic, Dickerson engages the ideas of some well-known twentieth- and twentyfirst-century espousers of physicalism, including the philosopher Daniel Dennett, the ... Read more
Are humans just complex biochemical machines, mere physical parts of a causally closed materialist universe? Are we approaching the so-called 'Singularity', when human consciousness can (and will) be downloaded into computers? Or is there more to the human person - something that might be known as 'soul' or 'spirit'? As this book makes clear, the answers to these questions have profound implications to topics such as heroism, creativity, ecology, and the possibility of reason and science. In exploring this important topic, Dickerson engages the ideas of some well-known twentieth- and twentyfirst-century espousers of physicalism, including the philosopher Daniel Dennett, the ... Read more
Product Details
Publisher
Lutterworth Press
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2017
Condition
New
Number of Pages
240
Place of Publication
Cambridge, United Kingdom
ISBN
9780718894924
SKU
V9780718894924
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 15 to 20 working days
Ref
99-2
About Matthew Dickerson
Matthew Dickerson is a professor at Middlebury College, affiliated with the Department of Computer Science and the Program of Environmental Studies. His most recent books include The Rood and the Torc: The Song of Kristinge, Son of Finn (2014) and The Gifted (2015).
Reviews for The Mind and the Machine: What It Means to Be Human and Why It Matters
An engaging and probing exploration of some of the fundamental questions humans ask about themselves: Is a human being just a machine made out of protein? Are humans completely determined by the physical processes going on in their bodies? Is the belief that humans are spiritual just a vestige of prescientific thinking? Dickerson attacks these questions - and many others ... Read more