CEPL 0905 - To Be Human: Minds, Robots, Clones and Zombies

Institution:

Brown University

Subject:

Description:

What it is that makes us characteristically human has been a crucial question for a long time. In ancient Greece, 'featherless biped' was tried out as a definition, but a plucked chicken refuted that good idea. Since then a common suggestion has been that it's all about the mind. But what is the mind? This course will look at what we mean by words like mind, reason, intelligence, and consciousness. Is human intelligence different in kind to animal intelligence? If so, how? Could machines really think--or will they ever feel, or be conscious (have you ever met a "philosopher's zombie")? Would a conscious machine deserve human rights? Or maybe it's the other way around: what are fields such as psychology, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science telling us about what it is to be human? "I think therefore I am", but does it have to be rational thought? And what happens when I fall asleep: maybe I'm a different person when I wake up again?

Credits:

0.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

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Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.brown.edu

Phone Number:

(401) 863-1000

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Semester

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