From your reading of Hasker, and using the categories he uses, what view of the

Question

From your reading of Hasker, and using the categories he uses, what view of the mind/body problem do you think is exhibited by Picard? By Maddox? Support your answer.

Maddox lists 3 criteria for a being to be sentient: intelligence, self-awareness, and consciousness. Are these adequate? Can you think of other properties or characteristics a being needs to have in order to be considered a “person”? What might they be?

Do you think that artificial intelligence to the level as it is presented in the story will someday be possible? Why or why not?

Do you think Maddox is right when he claims that Picard is being “irrational and emotional” in his view of Data?

Do you agree with the JAG officer’s final ruling? Why or why not?

If A.I. does become possible, will we have obligations to treat machines “ethically”?

Explanation / Answer

1. From your reading of Hasker, and using the categories he uses, what view of the mind/body problemdo you think is exhibited by Picard? By Maddox?Support your answer.

ANS: The stance of Picard is that his robot friend, Data, is a person and should be able tomake decisions like areal person (Synopsis) His apparent view of the mind/bodyproblem is that the mind is not separate fromthe body, ultimately he believes in avery materialistic nature. Picard refers to Data as being a human inthe way hethinks; to be human in thought process, you must have the same mental processes.Data, like humans, only has a brain, a brain that makes mental thought. Data’s brain,like every other human has a self-operating computer (Hasker, 70).Maddox is very diFerent than Piccardon his view of the mind/body problem, andthis is why there is an obvious clash between the two.Maddox has the view that thebody and the mind have a dualistic nature; that we have a brain and amind (Hasker,66). This is how we are made and formed. Maddox believes that man has a dualisticnature,and that Data, being a machine, was only created with a brain; not a mind.Humans have souls, machines do not, is Maddox’s ultimate stance (Synopsis).

2. Maddox lists 3 criteria for a being to be sentient: intelligence, self-awareness, and consciousness. Are these adequate? Can you think of other properties or characteristics a being needs to have in order to be considered a “person”? What might they be?

ANS: Commander Maddox’s view came from a materialism perspective of the mind/bodyproblem. Maddox’s views on the making of Data agrees that Data has mental properties likehuman, however, Data is not.He proves his point by turning Data off.He referred to Data ashelpful property that belonged to the enterprise. Maddox’s view of allowing Data to have humanrights to be absurd. Maddox spoke about Data and referred to him as it and not him.Maddoxwould not excuse the human attributes as similarities and a real person. Maddox spoke aboutthere being three criteria’s for emotions to be valid. There must also include seeing, hearing, andtasting. Also there must be real self-awareness, intelligence and the person must have aconscious. Maddox viewed Data as just property and nothing else. Other things I think a personneeds to be an adequate human is the ability to breathe, and a heartbeat. Maddox’s listed threecriteria’s for a being to be sentient must have intelligence, self-awareness and consciousness, isreasonable. In order to be considered a person one must first be made in the image of God.Godmade men in His image. A copycat with wires, electricity, and a mother board to function is notthe making of God.

3. Do you think that artificial intelligence to the level as it is presented in the story will someday be possible? Why or why not?

ANS: Scientific discoveries have come a long way over the years, and advances continue to take placetoday at levels that the common individual is not even aware of. I believe that at some point in the futureit will be possible for artificial intelligence to reach levels similar to that of Data. To think that it will oneday be possible to create an android to behave in ways identical to that of a human being is somewhatfrightening to me and will no doubt spark heated debates over treatment of such beings. Furthermore, much like the episode, debates will rage over the status of these beings and whether or not they wouldpossess a soul. I can see usage for artificial intelligence that could perform their own decision making andthought patterns without operator intervention, but again my fear comes in because in essence a new raceis then created operating under their own sets of principles, if they even existed. Man would ultimately beplaying the role of God, which in my opinion is a dangerous thing.

Reference:

Hasker, W. (1983).Metaphysics, Constructing a World View.Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic.

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