Human, Posthuman, and Machine

Course Description

In this course, we will consider the blurring of boundaries between humans and machines that began with the early technological era and that has become especially acute since the middle of the 20th century. The texts we will consider can be seen as answers to two related questions.

• Are humans machines? Some have argued that humans are primarily material or informational beings whose functions--including higher functions such as consciousness--can be described in mechanistic or computational terms. What, we will ask, are the implications of such a view?
• Could a machine be (or be like) a human? Others have argued that machines can be built with human qualities such as consciousness or intelligence, or that machines or can be alive or can contain life. As we read these texts, we will speculate on the consequences of that happening, and consider whether there are any qualities which are distinctively human or which only living beings may possess.

It is unlikely that we will come up with definitive answers to these questions. My hope is that by exploring the boundaries between humans and machines, we will develop our own views on such fundamental questions as what it means to be human, to have bodies, or to live in a technological era.

Required Texts

The following texts are required:

print books:

• Hans Moravec, Mind Children
• Steven Levy, Artificial Life
• Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
• Richard Powers, Galataea 2.2
• Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash

xerox:

• Baron d'Holbach, The System of Nature (to be handed out in class; the price--approximately $3--will be charged to your account)

Web sources:

• Descartes, Meditation VI
• Hoffman, "The Sandman"
• White, "Head Transplants"
• Turing, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence"

Course Requirements

Your grade will be based on the following:

• reading quizzes (20% normally, but READ THE DESCRIPTION)
• a mid-term exam (20%)
• a final exam (20%)
• a term project (40%)
• I will not grade participation in the class listserv, but active, thoughtful participation in the listserv may earn you extra credit.

Attendance is mandatory. I will evaluate attendance on a case by case basis, but in general you should expect that more than two absences for any reason, including illness and university-sponsored activities, will lower your final grade.

Participation in discussion is important in this class. Although there is no separate grade rubric for participation, active, thoughtful participation in class will raise a borderline grade, while passive or disruptive participation will lower one.

Tentative Course Schedule

Week 1

W 5/9 - Introduction. Are humans machines?

reading (during the first break):

White, "Head Transplants,"on the Web here (5 pp.)

Th 5/10 - Clockwork humans.

readings:

Descartes, Meditation VI, on the web here (10 pp.)
Baron d'Holbach, The System of Nature Chs. I, IV, VI (21 pp.) (course packet)

F 5/11 - The implications of the materialist case.

readings:

Baron d'Holbach, the remainder of The System of Nature (53 pp.) (course packet)
Hoffman, "The Sandman," on the web here (24 pp.)

Week 2

M 5/14 - Turn the question around: could a machine be human? Can a machine think?

readings:

Turing, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," available here from the Cognitive Sciences Eprint Archive (27 pp.)
Moravec, Mind Children: The Future of Robot and Human Intelligence, "Prologue" and Ch. 1, "Mind in Motion" (50 pp.)

T 5/15 - Reading Day - no class

W 5/16 - Thinking machines, part 2.

reading:

Powers, Galataea 2.2 (329 pp.)

Th 5/17 - Galataea 2.2 continued.

F 5/18 - More fundamentally: can a machine be alive? What if it were?

readings: Moravec, Ch. 4, "Grandfather Clause" (24 pp.)
in-class: The Matrix or eXistenZ

Week 3

M 5/21 - The strong claim for artificial life

reading:
Levy, Artificial Life, "Prologue: In Silico," "The Promised Land," "Playing by the Rules," "God's Heart," "The Strong Claim" (158 pp.)

MID-TERM EXAM (covering materials from 5/9 through 5/17)

T 5/22 - the human computer

reading:

Dawkins, The Selfish Gene Chs. 1-4, 11 (76 pp.)

W 5/23 - Reading Day

Th 5/24 the human computer continued

reading: Stephenson, Snow Crash (470 pp.)

F 5/25 - Snow Crash continued.

Week 4

M 5/28 - Memorial Day; no class

T 5/29 - individual presentations

W 5/30 - individual presentations

Th 5/31 FINAL EXAM (covering 5/18 through 5/26)