The Problem of Other Minds

6.3 ANIMAL NEUROETHICS

Ph y s i c a l s e n s a t i on not
connected with sight, hearing, taste or
smell.

Inferences based on indicator
lights and, analogously, behavior
are therefore fallible.

A reaction to perceived pain.
Ouch!


WHATS IN A VERB?
Behavior Feeling
Perception of Pain
Mirror neurons?
Must feel, care, empathy,
connection
People are in pain, feeling
pain

Ouch!
Feeling v. Behavior
Actual Pain v. Perceived
Pain

WOOF = PAIN?
How do we know that animals experience pain?
Are they really feeling pain or are we just trying to find a connection?
Similar brain structure, ACC.
Similar Behavior
Similar activity in ACC
Because our perception of pain is similarly aligned with animals, is this enough to prove
that they have personhood?
The difference with animals is that they cannot communicate their
pain with us directly.
6.4 DIGITAL PEOPLE
Bionics: the study of how humans and animals perform certain tasks and solve certain
problems, and of the application of the findings to the design of electronic devices and
mechanical parts.
Robot: Czech robota: forced labor
a machine that does mechanical, routine tasks on command.

Humanoid vs. Non-humanoid






ROBOTS FOR INDUSTRY AND THE HOME
George Devol &Joseph Engelberger created UNIMATE





GM bought first one in 1961
ASIMO (advanced step in innovative mobility): child-sized humanoid robot from the
Honda Corporation
QRIO: 2-foot-tall humanoid robot created by Sony Corporation
KISMET: robotic humanoid head and face designed by robot engineer Cynthia Breaseal
at MIT
With robots gaining more and more human like features, do you think well begin to feel more
emotion and express similar morality to them?

Do you think robots have the potential to become so advanced that they are able to feel emotion
and have a sense of morality?

Does this make them more human?

BIONIC HUMANS
Eight to 10% of U.S. population, approx. 25 million people, have artificial parts (354).
National Institutes of Health

ETHICAL &SOCIETAL ISSUES
With(out) a Soul

6.5 FROM NEURONS TO POLITICS
THE IDEA OF THE SOUL
According to the author

If religion, in particular Christianity, was not so concerned with the soul, religious people could
be more concerned with doing good, now, in this world.

Dualism concept of having a physical body and
untangible soul
nephesh
psyche
soul
And the Lord God formed man of the dust
of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became
a living soul.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust
of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became
a living being.
THE BIBLICAL SOUL
A whole, simply seen from different
dimensions
Spirit
Soul
Heart
Mind
Relationship
Natural world
Community
God

Distinct parts
Brain
Body
Heart (physical and ideal)
More individualistic



WHAT ARE WE RESURRECTING?
The Physical Self The Intangible Soul
The hope that we can resurrect the body, versus the soul. (Or Both)
THE SOULS AFFECT ON LIVING
Individuality and res pons i bi l i t y
When are we paying for our sins?
What is the point of doing good? Of being ethical?
What role does the body and its interactions (relationships, experience) play?
Wars, Conflict, Acts of Justice, Genocide, Famine, Territorial Disputes, etc.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN
ABOUT OUR GLOBAL
HISTORY?