Philosophy in the news...

1. Philosophy in the news... • Ann Coulter’s visit... • http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/spurned-in-ottawa-ann-coulter-gets-a-big-welcome-from-calgary/article1511247/ • The Harris Learning Library...

2. Kenn Brown art PHIL 1115Lec 24Transhumanism

3. Transhumanism:Carpe Diem or Playing God?

4. The Epic of Gilgamesh dates from the 3rd millennium BCE and is one of the finest surviving epic poems in world literature.

5. Transhuman?

6. Julian Huxley 1957 • "I believe in transhumanism:...once there are enough people who can truly say that, the human species will be on the threshold of a new kind of existence, as different from ours as ours is from that of Peking man. It will at last be consciously fulfilling its real destiny.“

7. Aims of Transhumanism…. • Increase in human health span (more than merely life span) • Extension of intellectual and physical capacities • Control of our mental states and moods

8. Singularity “Singularity... the point at which technological advancement will become so rapid that the possibilities will become endless...”

9. Singularity The Singularity is the technological creation of smarter-than-human intelligence.

10. Bioconservatives… • Are opposed to the use of technology to modify human nature • Believe that human enhancement technologies will undermine human dignity (i.e. be dehumanizing) • Argue for public control of such technologies

11. Two fears… • Posthumans might harm themselves • Posthumans might harm ‘ordinary’ humans

12. Transhumanism and civil liberties... • Technological self-determination • Reproduction • Cognition • Gender re-assignment • End of life technology

13. Coming to a college near you... Rutger’s University (New Jersey) • The course requires no science or technology background and is recommended for students with an art, humanities or business focus as well as anyone who anticipates working in a high technology or science-based industry or profession.

14. The ‘singularity’ is coming… Based on 21st C advances in • genetics • nanotechnology • robotics (including artificial intelligence) • http://www.innoeco.com/labels/Ray%20Kurzweil.html

15. Chimera • In Mythology

16. Who’s afraid of a little chimera? • First Spidey… • Now a little spider-goat…

17. Parahuman..."human-animal hybrids" • The Young Family 2002-3 • Artist: Patricia Piccinini

18. At Stanford University in California, experiments aim to create mice with human brains.

19. Relationship between eugenics and transhumanism... Perfecting the human race… • Humanity as a work in progress • Enlightenment thinking • Evolution

20. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AY0RFYzsKk&feature=player_embeddedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AY0RFYzsKk&feature=player_embedded

21. The Battleground?

22. The Battleground? • Clones • Designer babies • Spare parts babies • Deaf babies for deaf parents

23. Ethics and embryology – should deaf parents be allowed to choose a deaf child? • So, riddle me this: a deaf couple want a second child, and because of the woman’s age they’ll probably need to use in-vitro fertilisation techniques. No problem so far … until you find that the parents want to be able to select for a deaf child, and the UK government’s recent embryology bill will not allow them to do so. • This is a textbook ethical dilemma, but it’s the sort of thing that advances in reproductive technology and genetic engineering are going to make more commonplace.

24. Designer Babies... Designer Babies - Comments by Princeton professor Lee Silver • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN9ep4B9Hw0 Designer babies CBS • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ixEDLa3Jlc&NR=1&feature=fvwp 60 minutes: Gender selection instead of disease eradication? • http://www.fertility-docs.com/htmldocs/Video_60Min-B.html CSI New York: • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kefoIXnLAN0&NR=1&feature=fvwp

25. What do you think? • Should we aid in our own evolution? • Should we leave it up to nature? • Who should decide? • Who can decide?

26. Transhumanists vs. BioconservativesCarpe Diem or Playing God?

27. By way of review...

28. April 151:30 PMSurtees Gym

29. Final Exam: 3 hours • 70 Multiple Choice (70 marks) • Short Answer or True False (10 marks) • 2 Short Paragraph Answers (20 marks)

30. Final Exam: what’s included… Everything we’ve done since Feb 3rd • Lectures 17 to 24 • The PowerPoints • The two movies • The readings and notes*

31. Multiple Choice… Ionia, the birthplace of Western Philosophy, is in present-day a) Greece b) Italy c) Turkey d) Cyprus

32. Which group is comprised entirely of ancient materialists? • a) Thales, Democritus, Augustine • b) Thales, Socrates, Plato, St. Thomas • c) Thales, Heraclitus, Democritus • d) Thales, Heraclitus, Descartes

33. Which of the following suggested that the world consisted of tiny, indestructible elements called atoms? • a) Heraclitus • b)Democritus • c) Plato • d) Aristotle

34. “Existence precedes essence,” comes from the pen of • a) Albert Camus • b) Soren Kierkegaard • c) Jean-Paul Sartre • d) Friedrich Nietzsche

35. Which pairing makes the most sense? • a) John Locke and Tabula Rasa • b) J.S. Mill and Tabula Rasa • c) John Locke and the indubitable method • d) Rousseau and the indubitable method

36. Three ideas which challenge Locke’s theories about memory carrying the ‘self’ are • a) forgetting, false memory syndrome and drunkenness • b) reason, law and false memory • b) identity, knowledge and truth • c) amnesia, love and faith

37. Who was “awakened from [his] dogmatic slumber”? • a) Washington Irving • b) Rip Van Winkle • c) Immanuel Kant • d) No one; they’re all still sleeping

38. Short answers: • Why was Hobbes in trouble with the Catholic Church? True / False: • The tabula rasa is an ancient philosophical tablet from Ionia.

39. Paragraph Answer: Identify and discuss…. • Allegory of the Cave • Blackfoot Origin Myth • Rawls’ Theory of Justice • Protagoras’ Moral Skepticism

40. Remember that philosophy hides in plain sight everywhere. But you have to pay attention…

41. Thanks for listening…